


Loudness Between Shadow and Light

by Six-string Samurai (Sentionaut)



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Science Fiction, Sharing a Body
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-21
Updated: 2013-06-21
Packaged: 2017-12-15 17:30:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/852136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sentionaut/pseuds/Six-string%20Samurai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The teen hero and the comet powered thief are forced to deal with some personal issues when Drakken's latest plot goes awry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once More

Kim Possible is property of Disney. Original characters are property of author.  
A Fan fiction by Six-string Samurai.

Loudness Between Shadow & Light

Bursts of harsh breath splashed out into the subdued light beneath the streetlamp, growing slower and more steady as the girl who could do anything doubled over, hands on her knees, trying to make use of the few minutes lead she knew she’d gained. It felt like she’d been running just this side of forever, and her lungs burned with the exertion. The wind picked up and a sharp chill cut her skin to the bone, dressed as lightly as she was in brown cargo pants and a logo-less violet t-shirt. She’d lost her hoodie what felt like ages ago, tossing it to the winds as it’d been too torn to do anything but hamper her flight.

The sharp staccato of boots on concrete behind Kim caused her to start, whipping her sweat-plastered hair around in a halo as she turned wide-eyed, heart still hammering a mile-a-minute in her chest.

Nothing. The residential street was empty, save for the swirl of autumn leaves on the wind, and a few dark cars parked out in front of the single-story homes that lined the road. A part of her felt stupid at her overreaction, but that part was small and easily shoved aside as she already knew full well the reality of the situation, even if she still had trouble actually believing it herself. It was all just too, much.

Despite all the crazy things she’d seen, the crackpot scientists and the genetic monstrosities, the aliens and the schemes of megalomaniacs, most of it straight out of a b-movie, this took the cake. Nightmares weren’t supposed to be real, and her life so far had lent itself more toward the realm of science-fiction, not horror. Some lines weren’t meant to be crossed, but crossed they had, and tonight was proof enough for her.

“Kimmie,” the all too familiar voice cooed in the redhead’s ear, and she spun, lashing out with a backhanded strike, swinging at phantoms. Kim’s eyes searched the darkness between the light posts, the shadows beneath the nearest car, and the bushes along the sidewalk for the origin of the voice.

“Damn it, I’m not playing this game! Where are you,” the teen’s voice rang out hoarse from all her exertion.

“Don’t be like that Pumpkin. I thought we were having a blast. What’s the matter,” the words blew soft and warm past Kim’s ear, and she fought to hold in her mounting frustration at her elusive stalker.

“Why do you keep doing this? Whatever happened, we can fix it,” Kim was almost shouting despite herself. It was too much, and it had been going on for the past two hours. It was driving her crazy. “Just stop.”

“Aw, Pumpkin, does that mean you’re giving up already?” The voice came from everywhere, yet nowhere all at once.

“No, I’m not…I’m not giving up on you Shego.”

Kim steeled herself as a pair of hands gripped her shoulders lightly from behind. “That’s not what it sounds like to me, Kimmie. I never figured you for a quitter,” dark lips whispered into the back of Kim’s neck. There was a pause, and the teen felt the soft touch on her cold skin tighten ever so slightly. “You’re shaking, Pumpkin. Don’t tell me you’re…scared.”

Fear, that was a part of it. The cocktail running through Kim’s veins was equal parts fear, exhaustion, cold, and a small portion of shame that welled up from somewhere inside. It was embarrassing to be unable to do anything against the woman she’d always considered her rival, maybe even her equal. But, tonight, the scales had changed in Kim’s eyes, perhaps irrevocably so. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t even land a single blow on the older woman. Not after the first three or four hits anyway. Hard strikes that had been taken with nothing more than a strangely cold smile.

At first, there hadn’t been anything that had tipped off the teen hero to the sudden change in the status quo. It had started out like countless other past encounters. A call from Wade informing her of a heist in progress, the telltale hint of green fire that announced the involvement of a certain pale green thief. A perfectly ordinary sitch in Kim’s mind. Sure, there had been no sign of Drakken, but he’d been pretty quiet since wrapping up the incident with Warmonga.

Shego, on the other hand, had gone the other route, showing more activity in the past year than she had most of the time Kim had known her. After her hand in saving the world, Shego had gained a new measure of respect from the teen, and their fights had become more intense because of it.

Kim was trying harder to bring the hero back out into the light that she knew for certain was hiding just beneath Shego’s surface. She’d seen the truth in Miss Go, and Shego’s past with her brothers just went to prove the point.

However, Kim found out the harder she dug, pushed and prodded, the more obstinate and distant her rival became. She’d reached at impasse, a gulf that she just didn’t know how to cross. And it had been widening over the last six months. Then, the thief just disappeared without a sign of hide or hair a month ago.

In of itself, the redhead would have normally paid little attention to, as villains did that from time to time, dropping off the map. But, during Shego’s absence, Kim had foiled Drakken’s absurd plans on three separate occasions. The blue scientist’s assistant and bodyguard hadn’t shown up even once on any of the occasions.

Tonight marked a reunion, of sorts, between the two of them. To say Kim Possible had been surprised was the understatement of the year, because the woman she met was almost a stranger in her rival’s skin. It was obvious in the way she moved, how she held herself, even in her voice. The pale woman who had been running Kim ragged through the streets of Middleton wasn’t the ex-hero she’d known for so long. Fought with, bled with on countless occasions. Traded barbs with.

No, someone else had been watching Kim through those emerald eyes when the hero had shown up at the broken doors to the jewelry store just a little past midnight.

“Kimmie, it’s been so long. I was waiting, wondering when you’d show up tonight. I thought you’d be more excited to see me,” said the Shego that was all but embracing the redhead. “But, instead you made me chase you all this way.”

“Shego,” the teen tried to shrug out of the other woman’s grasp, but the gloved fingers on her arms didn’t budge an inch.

“Tell me. Why’d you run? I thought that was my thing,” the voice was soft and beginning to cross into an uncomfortable closeness.

“I don’t know. It…it seemed right at the time.”

“Nothing’s ever stopped you from trying before. Isn’t that your whole, I dunno, motto? It’s on your website, isn’t it? Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything.”

Kim could feel every word Shego breathed into her hair, and it struck the teen on some basic level. Fighting back the urge to shudder, she took a moment to gather herself, before speaking. “It’s your feet, Shego.”

There was a harsh bark of throaty laugher. “My feet princess? What pray tell is wrong with them? I happen to think I have nice feet, thank you very much.”  
Kim spoke in a rush, not really wanting to think about it just at that moment, not in the position she was in. “They’re not…uh, touching the ground.”

“You still haven’t figured it out yet, have you Pumpkin,” the words that slid across Kim’s neck were the soft statement of mild surprise. “Little things like this don’t matter here. But, if your not fast enough on the uptake to even get that far, I’m kinda worried about our future.”

“W-what are you talking about, Shego…just spit it out already. It’s late, I’m cold and tired, and I’ve had it up to here with whatever game you’re playing,” the teen’s voice rose in pitch and volume as her frayed nerves began to wear ever thinner.

Kim was rewarded with warm laughter against her skin, and she suddenly found herself pulled backward tight up against a warm wall of flesh. Unnatural heat surged up from the cosmic furnace that lay within her rival’s core. The thief’s grip on her arms changed, sliding across Kim’s skin, one coming to rest cupping her chin and the other slipping down, gloved fingers splaying over her abdomen. The breath hitched in the teen hero’s throat. What the hell was Shego up to now? Her mind struggled to come to grips with the increasing weird factor of the whole sitch. She’d been about to say something, more, but now her throat had gone dry, and it was a chore just to get breath past.

“Poor, poor Kimmie. Do I have to spell everything out for you? Just take a look around. You’re not in Kansas anymore.” Shego’s hands played across Kim’s skin, and slowly the one caressing her jaw line began to tilt her head until Kim’s gaze was resting on a large sign at the end of the street.

It was a familiar sign, and Kim wondered if she’d actually been chased all the way to the city limits. She felt like she’d been running in circles all night, and the sign was a bit of a shock. Kim must’ve said something to that effect, because the breath against her ear told her she wasn’t seeing the right thing. She wasn’t looking close enough. So she did, and found a sharp gasp falling through her lips.

The sign was old, there was no mistaking that it was the one that had been there longer than she could remember, but the words that glared back at her, illuminated by little lights at the base of the sign, were not the “Now Leaving Middleton,” that should be there. Instead, it was a sign thanking visitors for visiting Shegoton.

“Shego, what did you do,” Kim was surprised at the anger in her voice.

“I didn’t do anything Princess. This is all your ballpark, I just happen to know the rules better than you.”

Kim tried again to turn and face her rival, but it seemed that Shego wasn’t having any of that, and clamped her hands down. The redhead winced at the corded strength hidden beneath the skintight catsuit. “Just tell me already!”

Shego tsked, “Ever seen the movie ‘Nightmare on Elm Street,’ Kimmie?”

The teen shook her head as much as the hand on her face would allow. She hadn’t seen it, but she’d heard about it enough around Halloween. There had been a marathon of older horror movies on TV, and Ron had tried to get her to watch it with him, but their relationship had been getting a little rocky around then, and she’d chosen to spend more time with Monique around then. “I’ve heard of it,” she ventured not sure where the raven haired woman was going with this.

“Well, this is kind of like that. I just need you to give me your answer.”

“I can’t just quit Shego. You caught me on a bad night, and I’m feeling crappy, but that doesn’t just change my morals. I’m not going to tell you I lose and you win, just because of that.”

The taller woman was silent for a moment, and her hands stopped their playful roaming.

“Shego?”

“The way I see it, you have two choices Kimmie. We can do this the hard way, or the way I prefer, and we both get something out of it.”

The redhead didn’t like something about the tone in Shego’s voice, and renewed her futile struggle, even going so far as to swing her head back in an attempt to crush the taller woman’s nose and break that iron grip. However she misjudged the height difference due to the other woman not being quite in contact with the ground and found the back of her head bouncing off an ample bosom instead.

“Is that your answer Pumpkin? Because I’m getting what I want either way.”

“Damn it, I told you I can’t just give up!”

Past the curtain of red, Shego’s black lips tightened into a small frown. Her Kimmie just had to be stubborn and difficult on this. The frown vanished as if it had been an illusion, and Shego’s teeth gleamed white under the lamplight. She’d been telling Kim the truth, as far as she saw it. Shego was going to get her answer from the redhead’s lips, even if she had to drag it out kicking and screaming.

The thief looked around at the quiet houses and empty street. It wouldn’t do to take care of business here. It was too, tasteless. No, she had somewhere better in mind.

Around the two girls, the air shimmered and wavered, and the ground beneath their feet opened up, swallowing them whole.

Kim found herself involuntarily sucking in a great breath of air as her world went topsy-turvy for a handful of seconds, and by the time she regained her bearings, they were somewhere else. The street had vanished, and there was only a heavy oppressive darkness. But, slowly her eyes began to adjust, and faint details of the new surroundings became vaguely apparent. That didn’t mean it was familiar though. “Where,” Kim felt a gloved finger press against her lips, nipping her question in the bud.

“Shh, we’re about to get down to business. You’ll be needing every last bit of breath for this.” Shego lifted her finger once she was sure that she had Kim’s full attention. “This is your last chance Kimmie. All you have to do is tell me what I want to hear of your own free will.”

Kim didn’t answer, but she glared out into the gloom.

Shego sighed, as if she were somehow disappointed in the hero’s choice. “Just remember, say the words, and this will all end,” the thief bent down, nipping the edge of the redhead’s ear with warm lips and gleaming teeth.

Thus, she began in earnest.

 

Kimberly Anne Possible ached, all of her. There was no single word that could cover how bad she felt. It went beyond exhaustion, bodily pain, the mere trappings of flesh. If there had been light to see by, she was sure that her skin must be the color of twilight with how much every inch of her skin hurt.

The beatings will continue until morale improves…Kim couldn’t get the phrase out of her head, she didn’t even know where it had come from, but it summed up her feelings in a neat little package that was filled to bursting.’

Had she been beaten? Was she even now, being tormented? A sharp kick to the ribs. Repeated crushing blows to the face, lashes across her back, thighs, feet. God, she wanted to scream out, to cry, but she’d already done that. Had it helped? She didn’t remember any more, but it wasn’t likely. There was no remorse, no regret and no mercy in the punishment visited upon her self. There couldn’t be. Why would there, when the hero had fallen, the girl who could do anything had failed.

Kim Possible had thrown in the towel, and for what? Bile rose in her throat. Her own selfish weakness made her sick, wracking her body with phantom pain that was worse in a way than any torture one of her enemies might have sought to inflict. This would forever be her darkest moment, and a secret shame that she would carry for the rest of her days.

Could she still even be a hero? Who would want to be rescued by a girl who couldn’t even save herself? Her stomach turned at the thought, and she couldn’t even find it in herself to fight it.

Bile, black with blood and self-loathing splashed out, burning her throat, stinging her mouth. It didn’t stop until she could only dry heave. Spent and hollow, Kim collapsed unaware into a pool of her own unmaking.

Above, a dark angel looked down upon the pale glistening figure that lay sprawled, naked on the concrete. It wasn’t the fall that killed you, she knew that all too well.

Shego took Kim in her arms, staring into the face of the young woman who had purged herself of the trappings of guilt, doubt, and self-recrimination. There had been surprisingly little, when the ex-thief compared the experience to her own. But really, it was all subjective, and she couldn’t say with certainty that she’d suffered more, or less. It didn’t matter in the here and now anyway.

Shego smiled at the weight of refined potential that lay sleeping in her arms. All she could do now was wait. Wait for those jade eyes to open, because in them, her truth would be told.

* * *

The Shego who wasn’t lifted her face skyward, eyes closed as she savored the small sounds that escaped the redhead splayed out on the floor somewhere below her feet. After searching for that one something her whole life, she’d finally found it. That taste she’d been missing.

It hadn’t been there with her brothers as she’d played at being the hero. Working with the blue dolt, well it had been closer, but ultimately unfulfilled. She’d been lazy, lulled into complacency. It hadn’t been a bad gig, but nothing had really been a true measure of herself. Then she showed up, and for the first time, Shego had realized that she might be missing out on a piece of her life.

It wasn’t that the redhead was the final piece of the puzzle, but more like a reminder that there was indeed something that needed solving. But, even that hadn’t been enough to really stir the thief. She’d needed a real jump start, a whole system shock. Her short stint as Miss Go had been just the thing, a much needed reality check, something that forced Shego to understand she’d been trying to live her life according to other people's definitions. Just like she’d played a hero as a teen, she’d only been acting out the other side of the coin as an adult.

In many ways, she owed Kim Possible. The girl who could do anything had pushed Shego into challenging herself, to strive to be just a little bit better at what she did. The trouble was, the thief found herself only caring where the redhead was concerned. And it wasn’t ever enough. She realized that now. She’d been only doing more of the same thing, improving for the sake of showing off, of looking good in the eyes of the one person she had deemed worth that effort.

Had the two of them grown closer in some way because of it? Shego could answer that once awkward question now. Yes, they had. But there was a newer, more pressing question on her mind, not yet formed on her dark lips. In what way?

It was something that only the presence of the redhead could answer. Moreover, it was a wordless, formless thing. Something she couldn’t fight, burn, melt or beat into submission. She’d come to realize it was a softer, frail and fragile thing that threatened to slip through her fingers, and shatter like glass on the floor.

This was the crux of the matter, at least as far as Shego saw it. Tonight would be the night that she was in a position to truly give Kimmie what she owed her. It was almost a gift, really, to pull the self-imposed blinders from her Pumpkin’s eyes.

Shego smiled, already imagining standing side by side with Kim, the both of them burning with true understanding. It wasn’t that the world was against them, but that they’d been using it as a stepping stone the moment the two of them had met. How could it be any other way, when everyone else was but a dying star in comparison?

In the darkness of the empty space, emerald eyes slowly began to open, shimmering with new promise.


	2. Quasi-evil

Kim Possible is property of Disney. Original characters are property of author.  
A Fan fiction by Six-string Samurai. Loudness Between Shadow & Light

There was a loud cough from behind, causing the emerald-eyed assistant to look over her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed and she turned her stare back to the comatose teen strapped to what appeared to be a huge reclining couch, red hair splayed out across the fabric like a burning halo. There was a second cough, more impatient this time, pulling her attention away yet again. “What, what is it now Dr. D?”

Drew lowered the fist that he’d been coughing into, a satisfied jagged smile across his face. “Well, what’s the verdict Shego?”

The raven haired woman could only shrug, wondering why the hell he was asking her, when she barely understood what he’d cooked up for the teen hero this time. Oh, he’d told her about his plan in boring, depressing detail, and she’d succeeded in tuning most of it out, once she determined that it wasn’t too crazy, and not likely to blow up in either of their faces. Probably. She’d just done the leg work as usual, getting the device from that institute, though the couch had been a bit of a hassle. “I don’t know. This thing didn’t exactly come with instructions. Aside from a few weird faces, Possible hasn’t shown much of a reaction. It would probably help if we knew what kind of sign we were looking for.”

“Hmm, I didn’t consider this part. I figured there would be a bell or a ding,” the scientist gestured at the device affixed to the hero’s head, styled after a pair of designer sunglasses, only sans lenses. Every few seconds a tiny red light blinked on the side of the unit, indicating it was functioning. “You know, like the microwave.”

God, the man had to be an idiot savant, or something, Shego mused, running a hand across her face in consternation. Why was she still working for him? It was a question she’d been asking herself more often of late. “I still don’t know how this is supposed to turn Pumpkin into an anti-hero.”

“Well, that’s easy my dear Shego. She can’t be a villain, because she’s too goody-two shoes. Anti-hero is the next best thing.”

“Dr. D, do you actually think of the things that come out of your mouth before you assault my ears with them.?”

“What are you saying,” Drakken didn’t look hurt, he just managed to sound confused.

“Uh, never mind. It’s a lost cause anyway.”

“Yes, right,” Drew regarded his assistant with beady eyes, glad he’d made his little adjustments, otherwise this might not have had a chance to work at all.

“So, you sure this thing is going to work as advertised?”

“Hah, you doubt my evil genius? I’ll have you know I tested the construct several times. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll show Kim Possible once and for all that she’s not all that and a bag of chips,” Drakken laughed heartily at what he determined was a successful attempt at wit.

“First of all, Dr. D, I told you not to call that thing me. You know how I feel about the whole clone thing,” she swung an arm toward Kim. “And this plan of yours seems an awful lot like mind control, no matter how you slice it.”  
“Shego, Shego, Shego…we’ve gone over this, I uh, promised not to do the whole mind chip thing again, didn’t I? You checked your contract when it was up for renewal last year specifically for that, and the cloning,” he added as an afterthought.

“I’m surprised you remembered,” Shego said with a small measure of surprise. It was true, she hadn’t had to remind him at all about it since she’d made those revisions to the paperwork.

“Well, yes, I do what I can,” he shrugged with feigned humility, rubbing absently at the sleeve on his left arm, which hid rather extensive scarring from Shego’s first reminder after the mind chipping incident. She hadn’t exactly been happy with him for a long time after that.

Drakken saw that Shego was still staring at him like she was waiting for something. Oh, yes…that. “It’s called a construct, a mental construct Shego, not a clone. It’s not real, merely a digital representation of your core personality. It’s all part of the rehabilitation program that I told you about,” he was grinning at this point, getting exited over the deviousness of his latest plan. “This is the best part,” the blue man rubbed his gloved hands together gleefully. “As I told you, this equipment was initially developed to reform mentally unbalanced psychotic villains. At least, that’s what the project journals I found online stated. It might have had some other use in the beginning, but the success is what first caught my attention. And that’s where the deliciously evil irony comes in!”

Shego vaguely recalled this part of his rant before, as he’d started trying to waltz around the lab as he explained it the first time.

“Kim Possible will be reverse good-ified by an instrument for saving the world from the likes of Evil!”

“Uh, Dr. D, I’m not sure some of what you just said was actual real words, but I think I get the point. Still, how is this not the same as mind chipping her?” Shego was beginning to frown again at this point, and she sat down on the edge of the couch Kim was resting on.

“Ah ha! I knew you’d see it! This is the best,” he paused, seeming to struggle with something, “Ha, the second best part of my plan and also full of evil irony! With the help of your, I mean, the mental construct, she’ll join our evil family of her own free will!”

“Yeah, about that…this digital clone--”

“Construct, Shego,” Drakken interrupted with a raised finger.

“Construct, whatever…if it’s just me in there, how is this plan of yours supposed to work. I know how Pumpkin thinks, probably better than anyone, and I don’t have the slightest idea how to go about getting her to switch sides. I mean, as long as we’re being realistic, she has a better chance of--,” Shego cut herself off before she said something that had been on her mind ever since she’d helped save the world from alien invasion.

“Shego, you don’t think I haven’t already thought of that? Like you know all about Kim Possible, I too know everything about you!”

“Dr. D, somehow I really doubt that.”

“And that’s where you’d be wrong my dear Shego. I know all about your superheroing days as part of Team Go. I know that as evil as you like people to think you are, you’re not,” the doctor was suddenly very smug, and had folded his arms across his chest.

“That’s all in the past Doc,” but Shego was curious as to where he was going with this line of reasoning.

“That might be so, but I know, just as well as you, that deep down, you’re--”

“Watch what you say Dr. D.”

“--only quasi-evil,” he finished, smirking sadly. “So I had to make certain, adjustments to your, uh, the construct.”

The emerald eyed woman crossed her own arms, standing up from the couch. “What kind of, adjustments, are we talking about?”

“Just little things, like removing a few of your, inhibitions. I didn’t want anything getting in the way of convincing Kim Possible that Evil was really the better way,” he’d lost some of the certainty in his voice as Shego stepped closer toward him, the look on her face unreadable in its intensity.

“What did you tell the clo-, mental thing, to do?”

Drew’s face lit up again at the prompt. “That’s the, third best part, absolutely nothing.” He was strangely gleeful for an idiot. “It’s all you in there, making every choice and doing all the work,” the doctor faltered in his new found enthusiasm, when it became obvious that his green-hued assistant didn’t share in this present he’d graciously granted to her.

For Shego’s part, her mind was a whirl, as she racked her brain for possibilities and likely outcomes. What lengths would she go if it meant that Princess would remain by her side, working together with her for a change instead of against her. The dozens of times that the two of them had been forced to team up by circumstance rather than desire popped into her head. And she’d been virtually given free reign. It was not only a sobering thought, it was a frightening one. If Shego had her choice, and there were no visible repercussions, God… Shego paled even further, realizing that this plan of Drakken’s was a terrible one.

Shego looked over at Kim’s sleeping face, trying to discern what was going on in that head of hers. Every so often, Kim’s nose scrunched up, and her eyebrows knotted together, but it looked all the world like nothing more than restless sleep. “How long did you say this was supposed to take?”

“I didn’t, the journals I read said that results varied from minutes to hours. No more than a day at most.”

“It’s been, what, thirty minutes?”

“Only for us.”

Shego creased her brow. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s simple dream physics, and a little science called distended time. For every hour that passes for us in the waking world, a day or more may have passed for Ms. Possible there.”

“She’s been in there for hours, alone with a crazy version of me?”

“No, not a crazy version of you, just one liberated from the mental barriers you’ve put up to keep yourself from realizing your full evil potential,” Drakken pointed out.

“You don’t know what you’ve done, do you?” the thief turned and gave her rival another look that Drakken found incomprehensible. “Is there a way to turn it off?”

Drakken laughed. “It should shut off by itself, once the work is done. Otherwise we run the risk of making Kim Possible a vegetable, and not even I am that evil.

So, this is it, Shego mused. All we can do is wait it out.


	3. Take my Love Apart

Kim Possible is property of Disney. Original characters are property of author.  
A Fan fiction by Six-string Samurai. Loudness Between Shadow & Light

When Kim finally opened her eyes, it was to a single ray of light playing across her skin, warm and full of small dust motes. In contrast, the ground beneath her was cold and unyielding, and banished the jumbled thought that insisted she was at home, wrapped up in the comfort of familiar sheets and blankets. Oddly, despite the clammy and uncomfortable ground, the young woman felt better than she had in, probably as long as she could recall. 

Feeling a draft from beyond the small circle she inhabited alerted her to the fact that she was completely naked. It was a sobering realization in more ways than one. Not only was she unarmed, but more importantly, she had lost her kimmunicator, and that thought jarred her completely awake. For some reason, the clothes were almost a non-concern, and the redhead found she could probably care less. There were more important problems currently at hand. Like where she was, and why she’d been brought here.

The teen pushed herself up on her side until she was partially sitting, and tried to get her bearings. Shielding her eyes from the overhead light, she could just make out a few fuzzy details in the shadows past the ring of light centered on her. The space around Kim had the feel of empty weight, hollow and cavernous, and the shapes she saw, slowly resolved into boxes, tables and equipment. Quite a few of the larger pieces struck a chord in her mind, and she grasped at that trembling length, reaching for understanding.

Like a switch had been flipped in her head, she realized where she was; one of Drakken’s old lairs. One that she’d watched, explode with her own eyes, and scatter to the four winds. That felt very important, and it niggled at more recent memories, ones she found were foggy and indistinct at best. Her mind’s eye cast back over the last few impressions she could recall, the last things before she’d gone to sleep.

But, the harder she sought, the more the waters splashed and sloshed, until she had to turn aside for the headache that was coming on. The best she could come up with was a little color and sound; the palest shade of green, one that was too close, too familiar to immediately place, and the haunting lilt of laughter, of whispers, breath against her neck.

It was too much at once, and the teen hero surged to her feet, turning once on her heel as if trying to find the source of the phantom touch. The spin and a few steps brought her toes just past the edge of the ring, skirting with the shadow. Following her impulse, Kim broke through with another step and let her eyes adjust. This time there was no doubt.

The shadows were crammed with numerous failed inventions, death traps and failed plans of world domination. This was the culmination of Drakken’s life work, and it was brought low to dust, disrepair, and discard.

“Had enough beauty sleep, Kimmie?”

Whipping in the direction of the voice, the redhead adopted a defensive crouch, green eyes rapidly scanning across the dimmed floor of the lair. How could she have been so blind to her rival, when the super-powered woman’s presence was almost palpable, Kim wondered even as she found who she was looking for. “Shego,” the name escaped her lips in a low growl, and her fists balled of their own accord, almost a hard-wired response. With the raven-haired woman’s revelation, the bits that had been slippery and indistinct in Kim’s mind snapped into focus with an almost blinding intensity.

It was enough, she decided, to know that the green woman was the cause of this. The why of it was no longer important, not in the face of the living embodiment of all that Kim saw as wrong in the world. It was painfully clear to her at that moment, so much so that she’d never been as certain of any one thing.

All the times she’d fought to stop Drakken, she’d done it to save the world, because that’s what everyone had decided she was supposed to do. At the same time, she felt justified in her actions, it was the right thing to do, more so because no one else going to step up to the plate. There was Global Justice, but they used her too, she was the one the world called on.

Why?

It wasn’t because she felt pressured, or that no one else was capable. She did it because it was what she was. Saving the world wasn’t simply in her nature, it was her nature. And sadly, it defined her. Everything else was a mask, a false face that she wore. The Cheerleader, the High school student, the Girl Friend, Daughter, Sister; all fake. There was only Kim Possible, who could do anything.

Right now that thing was saving Shego, the thing that Kim knew she should have done from the very beginning.

“Shego,” Kim called out, jaw set and brows knit as she strode completely into the darkness beyond the circle of light that had been her entire world for the briefest of eternities.

The woman the redhead was searching the shadows for made her presence known once more, “Yes, Kimmie?”

Zeroing in on the voice, Kim found her snarky rival looking down on her from atop one of Drakken’s busted machines. The green tinged woman wasn’t even so much as glancing her way. Instead, Shego was lazily lounging across a strut, one leg tossed over the other, rolling a spare bolt across the back of her fingers.

“You, me, down here…now,” Kim spoke in a tone that would brook no argument.

“I was beginning to think you’d never ask,” the bolt was flipped into the air, caught in one deft movement and summarily crushed into a twisted piece of useless metal. “Tell me, got anything special in mind?” Shego vaulted off her resting place and dropped the dozen or so feet to the ground, feet halting a breath away from actually contacting the dusty floor.

“Cut it, Shego. The game ends here. I’m putting a stop to you, once and for all. We’re done dancing around,” Kim brought her hands up, making a fist with one and nodding to herself. This was the best way, the only way to really settle things. It was something that the ex-hero could understand, even if it took getting pummeled to within an inch of her life. If it came down to that, Kim was more than willing to oblige. The stronger will would win out in the end, she was never surer of anything in her life.

“Is that right, Princess? If that’s the case, I think I’m a little overdressed for the occasion,” the construct that had become something far more, made a show of raking her eyes up and down Kim’s body. “Gotta say, I like what you’re offering.” Shego slid across the distance that separated them, sauntering and fixing the redhead with a tight little grin.

Kim didn’t respond to her rival’s jibes, fixated to such a degree that all she could see was the way the raven haired woman moved, already working out a dozen potential attacks in advance. The floating bit was new, but it wouldn’t mean a damn thing the moment she put a hand on Shego. The bones in Kim’s hand creaked, so tight was she squeezing her fist. The more the distance between them dwindled, the more relaxed the redhead became, until they were nearly touching, nose to…Kim had to look up to meet the green eyes that nearly mirrored her own.

“You were saying, Kimmie? About a game you wanted to play?” Shego was about to say more, but had to shift a little to the side in order to avoid the thrust of stiffened fingers that passed through where her throat had just been. “Does that mean it’s my turn,” she asked, drifting back just out of range as a flurry of kicks tore the air around her, the last of which nearly clipped the side of her head and she was forced to brush it aside. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Silently, Kim traded places with Shego, falling back and to the side, on the defensive. In contrast, the dark haired woman’s blows were more focused on breaking Kim’s center, to drive her to the ground. The redhead found herself slightly pressed to avoid blows that came not from just the ground, but at a height that she was unaccustomed to when facing her nemesis. They had always been matched in speed, and it seemed that was one thing that hadn’t changed. No, the surprise came when Shego snuck a hand past her guard and flat palmed Kim just below her ribcage. It felt like she’d been struck with a sledgehammer, and not only was she knocked clean off of her feet, the teen hero was sent skidding backward trailing a ten meter streak in the dust.

“Awake now, Kimmie? Good. I’d hate to think you’d disappoint me,” the green tinged thief gestured with an open palm when the girl regained her bearing. “You’re better than this Pumpkin. Now that we’re warmed up, show me what you’ve really got.” 

For a moment, Kim stared hard at the woman who’d sent her sprawling with such a deceptively light blow. One hand rubbed at the ache in her abdomen, as she pulled herself back up to standing. The pain all but vanished as her bare feet slapped the ground, propelling her body forward in a lunge that carried her across span of meters, eyes burning with a cold sense of purpose. There was no need for words; she had none for Shego anyway, not when a foot to the head would serve better.

And like that, she was upon Shego, silent limbs blurring with the intent to crush the villain.

The green woman found that she’d not get a second strike in so easily now that Kimmie was fired up. Theirs became a quiet dance across the entirety of Drakken’s house of discarded toys, no punches pulled on either side. Still, as they cut a swath of destruction, tossing each other repeatedly into walls, through bits of machinery, there was something a little off, a missing element that did not go unnoticed by the teen.

For the first time since they’d begun, Kim spoke, almost casually as she pulled her fist from where a near miss had imbedded it into the wall behind Shego. “Where’s the fire?”

Shego ducked under Kim’s back fist as the redhead tore her hand out of the wall. “Why? Not disappointed are you? I don’t need a crutch to beat you, Kimmie. Never have, never will,” she set out to prove her statement, catching the teen in the chin with a rising elbow, rattling Kim’s brain for an extra second of opportunity. As the redhead stumbled, Shego followed maintaining her distance and hammered Kim’s gut with another elbow.

Doubling over, Kim kept her feet and hooked Shego’s arm as she was pulling it back. Using her momentum, Kim dropped backward, dragging the taller woman with her and planting a foot in Shego’s stomach; she tossed the surprised woman headfirst into the concrete floor behind them with a heavy crunch.

Kip upping back to her feet, Kim spun around to gauge her opponent.

The raven haired thief was struggling to get up, still lying on her side in a cracked section of concrete. Brushing hair out of her face, she rolled her neck in a series of pops, and made a face. Turning to the side, Shego spit out a few chips of stone, “That was a good one there, Kimmie. Gotta hand it to you, caught me totally flat footed.”

“Oh, there’s more where that came from. You must be getting slow in your old age, Shego. Why don’t you do yourself a favor and just toss in the towel? I already told you this is the last time,” Kim kept her voice level. “I’m putting an end to you tonight, one way or the other.” Kim extended her hand, palm out. “Don’t make this be harder than it has to. I know you’re not what you keep pretending to be.”

“Pretending, Kimmie?” Shego shot to her feet, slapping the proffered hand away as if the very sight of it burned. “I’m the real deal! I’m not some fucking stand in! You can take your charity and shove it up your exhibitionist ass,” she ground out, slashing for the other girl’s face with a clawed hand. “You think I can’t hold a candle to her, well think again,” she lashed out, raking Kim’s cheek with three shallow cuts, and scoring dozens of like wounds to the girl’s forearms as Kim fought to put space between them.

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be, Princess. We’re two of a kind, you and I. Both the best at what we do. Just think of it. Together, we can be more, the greatest the world has ever seen. I know you understand what I’m offering. But, I don’t do sloppy seconds, Kimmie. There’s only one Shego, and it’s damn well going to be me!” She caught Kim hard in the ribs with the tip of her boot, plowing the redhead through the wall.

Picking herself out of the rubble on the other side, the redhead started to brush the dust and grit from her skin, but gave up after two or three swipes, only managing to spread the mess. What the devil is Shego going on about now? For that matter, what the hell is going on with me? Kim looked down at her body, sure she was covered head to toe in dirt and fine gray powder from the floor and wall, but otherwise there wasn’t a scratch on her. Even her arms, which she knew Shego had tried to shred, weren’t so much as scraped. She wanted answers. And she wanted them now.

Shego waited for Kim to come back through to this side of the lab, “Major Tom to Ground Control…I don’t have forever, Kimmie. The clock’s ticking.” She tapped her foot in the air, growing increasingly more impatient. “You’re going to wake up wake up soon, and I can’t be here when that happens.”

“Is that what’s going on here, Shego…this is just some sick dream I’m having?” Kim cleared the wall and fixed Shego with a narrow glare. “Is that why my head is all Swiss-cheesed? I knew this place was destroyed,” Kim focused on the last bit of her rival’s words. “And just what do you mean by ‘you can’t be here,’?” The redhead folded her arms under her breasts, waiting for a response.

The raven haired woman drew up short. “I thought you said you had it all figured out. I guess you can’t do everything after all. Kind of disappointing in a way.”

“Shego…just spit it out!”

“I gave you like a dozen hints already, Princess. Hello! I’m even floating here. Get it through your thick skull, we’re in your dream,” she rolled her eyes, and continued saying her next words deliberately slow, “You’re dreaming…this isn’t the real world.”

Kim knit her brows. “I don’t understand. If this is all a dream, what are you doing…Drakken! That little freak did something, didn’t he? I—I was, ergh,” Kim concentrated, trying to remember what the last thing she’d been doing before Shego had waylaid her in Middleton. “—I remember getting a call from Wade, then, nothing. Damn it,” she punched the wall with a frustrated fist.

“As to that, I’m not in on the whole plan. But, this is definitely Dr. D’s doing, can’t tell you much more than that, not right now anyway. There’s a gap between when she was hooked up to the machine, and,” Shego paused, thinking she might have said too much.

“That’s the second time you mentioned someone else. Who’s Drakken working with?” Kim pressed when Shego continued to not meet her eyes. “Tell me!”

“Who do you think? Who does he always work with? Who would bother to put up with his lame ass 24/7?” She spat, getting angry with herself, Kim, Drakken, the whole damn world could just sit and spin for all she cared. When I get out of here, so help me…

Kim almost flinched back at the green-tinted woman’s vehemence. “Shego…,” she said, but it didn’t carry the same curse behind it as before.

“Yeah, Pumpkin…got it in one,” the construct nodded, a bitter taste in her mouth. Then she finally looked back up at Kim. “I might not physically be her, but don’t let that fool you. I’m just as real as you are,” she drifted closer once more.

The redhead wasn’t sure what to think at this point, more concerned with whatever Drakken might be planning. If I’m asleep right now, what is he doing with my body? “Yeah, whatever,” she almost brushed it off, but thought better of it at the last second, “But, if you’re not Shego…just who, or what, are you,” Kim couldn’t help going back on her guard again. While she was coming up with more questions than answers, at least had an idea of where she was now.

Unfortunately, Kim’s question was one that the green tinged woman was only just starting to be able to answer to herself. Her dark lips parted to give Kim what she wanted to hear…but the world wavered and started fraying before she had the chance. Whatever she had been about to say was torn from her in one long scream of agony as Kim’s dream scape tore apart, the device ending the redhead’s forced slumber.


	4. One Step to the Edge

Kim Possible is property of Disney. Original characters are property of author.  
A Fan fiction by Six-string Samurai. Loudness Between Shadow & Light

“Ah hah! I was right,” Drakken turned to Shego, who was still sitting on the edge of the couch, with a smug grin on his lips as the device attached to Kim Possible emitted a short rhythmic tone for about five seconds before the lights on the side turned from blinking red to a steady blue. “I don’t think I’ve been this excited since…,” Drakken trailed off as the subject of his latest experiment in world domination sat up on the couch, reaching up to rub the side of her head.

“Well, that certainly took a lot less time than I figured it would,” the megalomaniac’s assistant got up from her seat, and folded her arms, waiting to see what Dr. D’s little plan had wrought.

“Yes, I was sure it would take at least another ten or fifteen minutes. I can’t think of too many people who are as stubborn as Ms. Possible.

Shego shot her boss a look, trying to decide if he was including himself in that number. If anything, the blue idiot was the one that didn’t know when it was time to call it a day. She supposed it could be an admirable trait, in anyone else. Hell, she’d be bored out of her skull working for the Doc, if Kimmie got tired of dealing with Drakken’s attempts, and just left it to someone else, like Global Justice. If there was a person she couldn’t stand, it was that stick in the mud Agent what’s his name--Dew, or whatever. Just thinking about his boring, all work and no play, face made her angry. A soft groan from the couch pulled her mind back to the matter at hand.

The redhead still had her eyes closed, trying to block out the bright lights in the room that threatened to double the already fierce pain just above her sinuses. It felt like she’d been sitting too close to the front speakers at an Oh Boyz concert. As she went to massage her throbbing temples, her fingers encountered something hard and plastic in the way. With a flick of her wrist, she ripped off the pseudo-glasses and tossed them aside.

Drakken lunged for the fragile device as Kim’s toss sent it sailing for the hard floor. “No! Shego get it,” he cried out the moment he realized his jump would carry him far short of the landing point.

The green tinged thief rolled her eyes at Drakken’s overdramatic reaction, and snagged the device as it whiffed toward her head. Idly, she wondered if Kimmie had been aiming for her, it was an awfully coincidental trajectory if not. “Dr D, it’s all good. You can probably get up off the floor now.”

“Shego? Drakken,” the teen hero’s voice interrupted, questioning as she blinked a few times to clear her blurred vision.

“Oh, good. She knows who we are,” the self-proclaimed Doctor picked himself up and dusted off his lab coat.

“What are you talking about, why wouldn’t she know who we are?” Shego almost shouted.

“Well, it means that her brains weren’t horribly scrambled by the device, which by the way, would have been a complete set back in my plan. So, yes, I think it is a good thing, don’t you,” Drakken absently asked. Whether he was addressing Kim or Shego wasn’t quite clear since he was facing the redhead at the time.

“You weren’t joking about the Vegetable thing, were you,” Shego frowned.

“It was a risk I was willing to take,” Drakken finally looked over his shoulder. “Besides, what does it matter? It’s not like we haven’t tried to get rid of her plenty of times in the past.”

“Uh, right. But, are you sure you should be saying that with her right there,” Shego pointed a clawed glove at the confused looking teen.

“Hmm? What difference does it make?”

Shego shrugged, “It’s your plan, your call. But, if you said that to me, I’d be pretty pissed at you right about now. Besides, she doesn’t look to happy at the moment.”

“Tone it down, for like five minutes. And do something about the lights, my head is killing me,” Kim covered her eyes with one hand and kicked her legs over the edge of the couch, eventually sitting there cradling her pounding head. “Yesterday would be nice,” she muttered as the seconds passed and the lights in the room neither dimmed nor went out.

“Um,” Drakken wasn’t sure if a frown or a grin was appropriate at this point. Just because Kim Possible was acting bossy, wasn’t a particularly evil sign. He gave Shego a look to get her opinion.

“What? What are you looking at me for? The lights? Fine, whatever,” Shego strode off to dim the fixtures in the lab.

When she got back, Shego stood just to the side of her boss, stage whispering in his ear. “So, what are we supposed to do now? Just sit around and wait until she decides to tell us if this doohickey worked,” Shego spun the glasses around her finger, and then thought better of it after a few rotations. She closed up the sides, clipping the device to the collar of her catsuit as if it were an ordinary pair of shades.

Drakken didn’t reply.

“Is this like the buzzer? You forgot again, didn’t you?”

The scientist nodded, whispering back, “I wanted to use the ‘Evil-o-meter,’ but it’s still not functioning quite right after you know, the blond boy, smashed it two weeks ago. He seemed quite dead set on breaking it too, I can’t imagine why for the life of me. I wasn’t even using it at the time,” Drakken frowned, mildly upset that he’d forgotten this part of the plan. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a stack of note cards, thumbing through them.

Shego ran a glove across her face, not those damn note cards again. “Forget it, Dr. D, we’ll just have to wing it,” she sighed, caring less and less for this particular plan.

“What part of pipe down, do you two not understand,” Kim cut in, getting to her feet. In the lowered lighting, her head was starting to feel less like a punching bag and more like a piece of well kneaded dough. On the plus side, her vision was no longer a blurred kaleidoscope, and she could see her captors’ just fine. However, headache or no, she had absolutely no idea how she’d gotten into this particular sitch. The last thing she could actively recall was talking to Wade about hooking her up with a ride…because there had been a break-in with all signs pointing to her favorite glowing thief.

After that, there was only a mass of jumbled images and an odd feeling of lightness in her chest. Even feeling like something the cat dragged in, Kim knew she would have absolutely no trouble putting these two out of everyone’s misery. In fact, doing so would almost be laughable. She couldn’t be bothered to play around here tonight. No, not when there was too much other work to be done.

“Listen, Princess. I don’t know who you think made you boss around here, but last time I checked, I don’t work for you, so stop trying to tell me what to do,” Shego stepped around front of Drakken and started to point a finger at Kimmie, when her arm was brushed aside and a tennis shoe found its way into her midsection, folding her over. She barely had time to get her arms up to absorb some of the follow up blow, as Kim slammed a knee into the thief’s head. Even as Shego fell backward with a sputter, the room lit up in sickly green from her powers activating.

“Damn it, that’s a cheap shot Kimmie,” Shego spat, sucking in a harsh breath as shook the tingling out of her forearms, having taken the brunt of the rising knee. Before she could move to counter it, the redhead swept past her and caught Drakken in the front of one knee with the heel of her foot, then pivoted and hooked the heel of the same foot into the side of his head, dropping the screaming man harder than a bag of bricks. “Shit,” Shego darted forward, trying to get behind Kim before the teen completed her spin.

Unfortunately, Kim pulled Drakken with her as he fell, using the back of her knee to clamp around his neck, and as a result, when Shego charge in with a blazing punch, aiming to catch the teen in her unprotected side, she ended up mashing her fist into her boss’s already pain wracked face, as the redhead whipped around to face her. The blow mercifully put him to sleep, and Kim released him, letting him sink to the ground. “Sorry Dr. D,” Shego winced, feeling slightly bad for hitting him the one time he really hadn’t deserved it.

“Thanks,” the redhead said without preamble, laying into the distracted thief cuffing her across the jaw, and then landing another good hit behind her ear as the thief’s head whipped to the side.

For the first time in a long time, Shego felt her vision goggle, and struggled to stay upright from the successive blows. Lashing out with her burning fist, she tossed off a smear of plasma in a wide arc to give herself breathing room.

“You’ll have to do better than that Shego,” Kim dropped into the splits, sliding across the floor toward the thief, well underneath the flare of green energy. As she cleared the dissipating plasma, the teen used her hands to pull herself into a flair, inverting her body on the second spin and catching Shego in the chest with the soles of both her feet. Posting off of the falling woman, Kim cart wheeled to the side and back onto her feet. Even in the dim lighting, she could see that the raven haired woman was struggling to get back up, clutching her chest with one arm. “Do yourself a favor and don’t get up. I’ll make sure it won’t happen again if you do.”

Shego made it onto one knee before Kim’s tennis shoes padded into view. The thief raised her right hand, power flickering to life once more. Kimmie had caught her by surprise, that’s all it was. She looked up, meeting darker green eyes that shone like diamonds in the light of her comet glow. Just a lucky couple hits. Why the hell did it hurt so much then? Lowering her hand, Shego caught sight of Drakken, lying a few feet away and blissfully unaware of the swiftly deteriorating situation. He was lucky to be passed out; she reflected having heard his knee give under Kimmie’s kick. Damn, it was looking more and more like another long night spent under GJ’s watchful eye. “Okay…I give,” she killed the power thrumming through her fingers, closing her eyes for a moment wondering if she should blame Dr. D for this after all.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. But, it’s a little late for that now, don’t you think?”

Shego’s eyes snapped back up, “Wh--” The look on Pumpkin’s face was unfamiliar to her. She was puzzling over it and never saw the blow falling that knocked her out.

 

“You can stop playing around, Shego. I’ve got a full plate here, and as much as I’d like it to be otherwise, they’re not waiting around for me to show up.”

Kimmie’s voice came from somewhere just below and to the side. The thief blinked the edges of her vision still a little cloudy, but almost back to normal. She’d woken maybe a minute or so ago, but kept her eyes closed, trying to get a read on the situation before the redhead had called her on it. Her arms were twisted awkwardly behind her back, held in place with what felt like a length of chain, secured higher up her forearms. It was easy enough to see that she was suspended a few feet above the ground, hanging from one of the ceiling supports.

Now that she had her bearings, Shego cast around for Kim. The redhead was nowhere in sight, though with a shift in her shoulders, she managed to get the chain to twist and swivel her around a little to the right. A bit more sway and she spun enough to meet the gaze that had been boring into her from six or seven feet away. “Hey, Kimmie. Isn’t this kind of, I dunno, backwards here?” Shego made a show of looking down past her feet. “What, no shark tank?” Inwardly, her mind was racing, trying to figure out what she was dealing with. An Evil Kim wasn’t high on her list of favorite things to consider, not when the redhead obviously was playing for some other team. The spinning chain continued rotating, and Shego had to crane her neck to maintain eye contact.

“No, sorry. Death traps aren’t my style. You’re a thief, not a murderer,” Kim made a clarifying motion with one of her hands. “I just need you out of the way for a few minutes while I take care of Drakken,” Kim spun out of view for a moment, until the chain swung Shego around again.

The green tinted woman narrowed her eyes, testing the chains that bound her arms once her back was to her captor again. “Take care of him? What are you talking about?”

The redhead looked off to the side, her gaze focusing on something out of Shego’s dwindling line of sight. “Just like I said. Right now, neither of you are high on the list. I’ve seen it, you can still change. Drakken too, if given enough incentive,” Kim strode off having said all she was going to on the subject, presumably in the direction of Dr. D. “I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere,” she said over her shoulder.

“Kimmie, what are you talking about? Damn it, come back here and explain! You forgot to gloat! Kim,” Shego shouted, flaring up her hands to try and free herself. The chains on her arms started to grow hot, scalding her through the material of her suit. She tensed in an effort to yank the chains apart, but only succeeded in scorching her skin, “Shit!” If they’d been wrapped around her wrists, she could have slagged them no problem.

Still, if Pumpkin thought that this was going to actually hold her for longer than a handful of seconds, she was sorely mistaken. Rocking her legs back and forth, she forced the chain to start swinging, trying to gather momentum. Gotta get myself flipped over. A few more kicks and she was swinging hard enough to kick her feet up over her head and hook her legs around the dangling chain. Damn, I knew something like this was going to happen, that digi-clone did a number on Kimmie…Hope this goes better than last time. 

Bracing herself, Shego craned her neck to aim down over her shoulder to get a bead on the chain, firing off a weakened test burst of plasma. A little more to the left otta do it. A second burst, stronger and far hotter this time, arced from her hands, upward, cutting into the chain about halfway to the ceiling. The chain parted without so much as a groan in protest, and she had just enough time to flip the rest of the way over, landing solidly on her feet. The thief tugged at her arms again, trying to get some slack in her bonds. “Kimmie!”

The raven haired woman didn’t have to go far to find the both the teen and the Doc, pretty much in the same spot where the blue scientist had crumpled. The redhead had her hands on her knees and was crouched, leaning over the Doc who was still face down and unconscious. Kim had her back to Shego, and didn’t see the taller woman’s approach. She was still across the room, and there was enough ambient noise that Shego decided to work at the chains around her arms a little more. She debated trying to tackle the teen from behind, but there was far too much room for error in that if the redhead heard her too soon. 

Besides, Kimmie was a little too serious right now for her taste, and Shego wasn’t looking forward to a matching set of bruised ribs on her other side. Or, mixing it up at all just yet; not with her hands still tied behind her back. Give me a sec, and I’ll be right with ya Pumpkin. You just keep staring at Dr. D.

Kim stood back up, satisfied that Drakken was out cold. She turned her attention to his right leg, which was only just barely sticking out from under the bottom edge of his coat, jutting at not quite the right angle; definitely broken. As far as she was concerned, it was the least she owed him for messing with her head again. That had to be what happened, because even she could tell things were a little different this time around. What had changed, she couldn’t quite place, but did it really matter? No, I haven’t felt this certain in a long time, she rolled her shoulders, feeling the comforting weight of the world settle a little firmer.

Behind Kim, there was a sharp clatter of metal clinking to the floor. The redhead turned, unsurprised at the sound of footsteps, “Shego…”

“What? Like you actually expected me to stay put? Please, give me some credit,” the comet glow was still thrumming brightly around the raven haired woman’s hands as she crossed toward the teen.

“A girl can hope,” Kim tilted her head slightly. “It would’ve been the smart thing to do.”

“You mean the boring thing,” Shego slowed as she closed the gap. “So, what’s the score? You did a real number on Dr. D, you know.” She glanced past Kim at the fallen Doc. “A little much, don’t you think?”

“I didn’t want him doing something stupid, much less escape.” Kim shrugged. “It worked.”

“Kimmie, you probably shattered his kneecap!”

“Well, then he’s definitely not going anywhere anytime soon,” the redhead replied, nonchalant.

Shego found herself frowning. If this was Kim acting Evil, she decided it wasn’t an improvement. Sure, Drakken wanted to take over the world, but most of his schemes didn’t involve an abundance of pain and suffering on the part of the general populace. Kimmie not only didn’t apparently care what she’d done, she admitted she’d done it on purpose. “If you didn’t want him to go anywhere, why not just foot to crotch him? It doesn’t even take much effort.”

The redhead fixed the other woman with a strange look, “That’s too much of a gamble. This is a sure thing. I wanted him immobile, not impotent. Getting a knee replacement is a lot easier than putting humpty dumpty back together.” She shook her head. “Now I can see why you don’t have any boyfriends, if that’s your first impulse.”

“The hell! What does that have to do with anything? You shattered a man’s knee, just to stop him from running away!”

“And you let him do something to me, so don’t bother trying to lecture me on my methods when they get the job done,” Kim plucked a familiar pair of lens-less glasses from the collar of her shirt. “Or do these not ring a bell?”

Fighting the urge to glance down at the obviously empty spot on the collar of her cat suit, Shego just gave a faint nod toward the device Kimmie was giving a curious twirl. “Yeah…your point?”

The glasses stopped spinning between Kim’s fingers. “I want to know what it does,” she held the pair of glasses up, looking at the other woman through the empty frames. “That’s my point.”

“Well, you’ll just have to wait for Dr. D to rise and shine, if that’s the case. I do the heavy lifting; he does all the brain work. Come on, you of all people should know that by now,” the green tinted woman gestured at the comatose scientist. “And that’s probably not going to happen any time soon, by the look of him.”

“Shego,” the redhead lowered the frames, “cut the bull, and give me the sitch.” Kim gripped the device, lightly in one fist.

The thief rolled her eyes. “I still don’t recall you signing my paycheck, princess,” then she frowned, folding her arms. “I’m not your dial-a-nerd, so stop talking to me like I give a damn about what you want. I could care less, and there‘s not a single thing you can do about it,” she paused, putting a hand to her chin. “Unless, you want to try and make me,” smirking, Shego brought her hands up, awash with power. “I’m game for that. I still owe you for that cheap shot you pulled.”

“If that’s what it’s going to take,” Kim stepped over to the couch she’d originally woken on, and put the device down on the middle of the cushion. She cracked her knuckles.

“Say, whatever happened to that side-kick of yours, Kimmie? Doesn’t he usually show up a lot sooner?” Shego said aloud, wondering if it would give the redhead any pause as they slowly started circling one another.

It appeared that Kim didn’t even need to think about it, as she replied almost the moment the question left her opponent’s lips, “Ron? He’s at a family reunion for the weekend.”

“Thought it was weird when you showed up without blondie in tow.”

It was the redhead’s turn to shrug, “I’ll deal.”

“Guess you’ll have to,” with that Shego lunged, burning claws reaching out to keep the teen on the defensive.

Kim chose to sidestep the swipe instead of backpedaling, and snapped out a roundhouse to try and catch the woman in the midsection as she passed. All her foot met was air when Shego used her forward momentum to dive over the extended leg.

Tucking into a roll, the thief twisted around even as she came to a stop, getting her arms up just in time to ward off Kim’s follow up axe kick. Trapping the descending leg, Shego pushed up hard forcing the teen into a hasty back flip or risk getting shoved on her ass. She rose, unwinding as she did, thrusting out her heel to back kick the redhead as Kim landed.

Eating the blow, Kim felt the air crush in her chest as she was sent stumbling backwards clutching her stomach. Trying to suck in a quick breath, she whipped her arms back up, realizing she had perhaps a second’s respite before clashing with Shego again.

“Come on Kimmie, what’s the matter?”

Not bothering to answer, Kim took a half-step back as the other woman darted toward her again. This time, instead of sliding to the side, she stood her ground, leaning away from the first few lit fists that missed by inches. The heat from the near strikes warmed her cheeks as she kicked out low, nailing the side of Shego’s leg with her shin with two short hard hits.

The taller woman quickly shuffled her stance to get her throbbing leg out of the way. Hissing a breath through her teeth, she let a bit of plasma out with her last punch to get Kim to back off. The redhead just ducked the sizzling bolt and pressed the attack, with a few sweeping kicks and tried to slow Shego down with a knee to the thigh, which the raven haired woman narrowly avoided. The miss turned into another snap kick toward her ribs, and Shego dropped her elbow down hard to tell Kimmie to watch it.

Kim backed off this time, rubbing at her shin with a scowl. The break didn’t last more than a few breaths, and the two clashed together again, the redhead throwing sharp elbows and knees to wear the stronger woman down.

In return, the comet powered woman landed several scorching hits on the hero, leaving scathing burns on her left arm and shoulder when Kim tried to nail her in the head with a hasty strike. 

A few more fast and furious exchanges and the two were beginning to show signs of slowing. The teen looked the worse for wear, but that was mostly due to the sorry state her mission gear was in. Her pants were scorched in places, and the left side of her purple tank top was hanging off her in smoldering threads where Shego had been working at introducing the girl’s ribs to her lungs. “Tell me what Drakken’s up to, Shego.”

If Kim looked bad, Shego appeared to be weathering the damage a little more internally. She stood half-crouched facing off against the teen, clearly holding most of her weight on her back leg. She held one arm close against her side, protecting ribs that had taken one too many bony elbows. “Why? Haven’t had a workout like this in ages. What’s the rush?”

The red head make a huffing noise in her throat, “That how you’re going to be? You just have to be difficult, don’t you?”

“Excuse me for not rolling over and taking one for the team. I thought you would have figured out by now, I don’t like to play that way,” the taller woman grinned, despite a cut that Kimmie had opened up on Shego’s bottom lip. “Dr. D is checked out for the night, and the pants-less wonder isn’t here to muck things up. We’ve got all night to finish this. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I see,” Kim nodded to herself apparently coming to some kind of decision. Her gaze snapped back up to focus on Shego with a startling sharpness.

“Huh,” the green tinged woman almost lowered one of her arms in spite of the situation. “That thing did do a number on you, didn’t it, Pumpkin.”

“You really do need me to beat an answer out of you,” Kim balled a fist, ignoring the twinge in her burnt shoulder. “Good. I think it’s better this way, in the long run. For both of us,” she paused when she saw that her rival was giving her a semi-ludicrous look. “We both get what we want,” Kim informed the thief. “I can’t really argue with that.”

“Uh, whatever you say,” Shego readjusted her stance when Kim tensed back up. “Game on?”

Kim didn’t bother replying and simply leaped.

The raven haired thief lit her hands and made to sidestep the fist that flew toward her head. The sudden move forced her to put undue weight on her injured leg, and she stumbled, barely avoiding a string of attacks before she could recover her mistake. Swatting away a kick aimed at her side, Shego leaned back, scoring a rent along Kimmie’s leg as it passed by with the tips of her claws.

Apparently it wasn’t enough to dissuade the teen as the redhead used the force of Shego’s push to spin around and whip her other leg up and around, forcing Shego to raise her arm up or take a heel to the chin. “Hey, watch it with those things,” she opted to stuff the kick and jammed her forearm hard against Kim’s calf so she didn’t get cracked in the head the same as her boss.

Kim felt Shego’s arm twist against her kicking leg, going for a grab, so Kim bent her knee and twisted her body hard in the opposite direction she’d been spinning in, letting the force of the torque pull her pivot foot off the ground and back up toward the green woman’s other side, squeezing her legs together in a scissoring motion. “Stop yakking and fight Shego!” Kim tightened up as soon as she felt her free leg catch the side of that pale neck.

Shego urked as the redhead’s other leg snaked up above her guard and closed tight against the side of her throat. Her vision fuzzed briefly from the impact loosening her grip on Kim’s right calf.

Caught in the force of the spin both women hung in the air for a moment, before crashing hard to the floor.

The teen was the first to recover, and rolled over onto her side to get better leverage as she crossed her ankles to secure her hold around Shego’s throat. She continued to squeeze, and Shego started turning a lighter shade of pale. Kim kept it up, even as her rival got her hands up, clamping onto the legs locked around her throat, power flickering to life with tendrils of plasma that burned and scorched. The redhead bit her lip and forced herself to hold on, the burning weakening with each passing second. She squeezed all the harder to end the pain, one way or another.

“Tell…me…Shego,” Kim gritted through her teeth as the villain in the redhead’s grasp slapped several times against the legs constricted around her throat. “Tell,” the teen trailed off as she realized that the woman had been trying to give up for the past few moments. Warily, Kim relaxed her hold, untangling her legs from around Shego.

The moment Shego was free, the pale woman sucked in a great shuddering breath, coughing and sputtering. She massaged at her reddening neck, fighting down the urge to vomit and draw in more air at the same time.

While the thief was busy hacking, Kim switched positions and knelt behind the pale woman so she could put her back down on the off chance that Shego decided to renege. “Whenever you’re ready, I’m all ears.”

Shego nodded, coughing once or twice more before she seemed to get everything mostly back under control. “Whatever you say, just,” she rubbed a forearm across her face, “gimme a sec, jeez. Damn it, I tapped out like a minute ago, what the hell was that all about?”

“Was that before, or after you tried to barbeque my legs?”

“After. Once everything started going fuzzy,” she admitted.

Kim took the time to glance at the burns on her leg; nothing too severe, mild blistering and a whole swatch of irritated skin, clearly outlining the shape of two grasping hands. It could have been far worse, and it sure felt like the thief had been aiming to flash fry her calves. Kim figured she was just lucky that she’d caught the other woman hard enough to stun her so that she couldn’t fully bring her comet powers to the surface. It wasn’t like it hadn’t happened on occasion in the past. “So?”

“So,” the pale woman echoed, still working at the side of her neck where Kimmie’s shin had been grinding.

“Shego,” Kim growled a warning.

“Chill out, Princess. I know, you want the plan…I get it already,” internally, the raven haired woman was debating how much to tell, and what exactly to say in the first place. She hadn’t really been all that up on what Dr. D was dealing with. She understood the basics of it, sort of. That was something she could relate easily enough. It would have to do, she just hoped that whatever that device had done to Kimmie, it would either wear off, or was reversible. Shego found she wasn’t really a fan of Kimmie the Bitch, if anything it was supposed to be Shego’s gig.

“Look, Dr. D. had me pick up that thing you were wearing, from a research institute in California. When he wasn’t trying to bore me to death with all the little details, I got that the device acts kinda like a doorway into a person’s head. Get someone to wear that thing while they’re sleeping and you can go in and muck around, or whatever,” Shego paused, making sure she hadn’t left out anything major, but it sounded good to her. Kim interrupted just when she was about to continue.

“Back up, you let Drakken go digging around in my head? After the mind chip thing,” Kim spat, incredulous. Then she tightened her jaw again. “This isn’t helping your case any, you know.”

“I don’t let blue boy do anything. He’s the boss, remember,” Shego shot back, then added, “Besides, he said he wasn’t up to the job.”

“What, Drakken can’t even be bothered to do his own dirty work anymore?”

“Well, he didn’t say it in so many words,” the pale woman looked away, “He told me to do it instead.”

“Y-you,” Kim’s eyebrows drew together. Reflexively, her fists opened and closed, “What did you do to me, Shego,” the redhead found herself increasingly on edge. This was getting better by the minute. The last thing she wanted was her rival rooting around in her mind, doing who knows what kind of damage. How did it even work? Had the thief been digging around, snooping? All the conjecture was useless until she found out more information, which probably meant slapping Drakken awake and tossing him around some more if he didn’t talk right away.

“I didn’t exactly do it,” the pale woman offered up once she saw the redhead had gone all silent and brooding. She continued once she knew she had Kim’s undivided attention again. “When I objected, Dr. D. told me the device could use a digital copy as a substitute. It wouldn’t be the real thing, but close enough to work. I figured he was going to go ahead and do it himself if I said no, and a fake me was better than Drakken any day,” she half shrugged, wondering if it seemed like an excuse, or an apology.

Kim wrapped her head around that concept for a moment, was there any difference between a digital Shego in her head, and the real thing? Since the two were separate, then did that mean that this Shego was a bystander, or an active participant? She scowled, not liking all the prospects that were popping up. “Drakken put this…digital Shego in my head,” Kim forwarded, “to do what, exactly?”

It was the raven haired woman’s turn to frown. “Er, it was supposed to coerce you into going bad. You know, the whole switch sides shtick,” she made little air quotes with her hands. “Honestly, I didn’t think it was that bad of an idea…just not the best way to go about it.” Shego pulled herself so she was sitting cross-legged on the ground instead of leaning on her side as she’d been doing. “It’s not like you and I haven’t worked together before. You can’t honestly tell me it wasn’t fun, Kimmie.” she watched Kim’s expression remain unwavering.

“I don’t mind throwing down with you now and then, but just think about all the great shit we could pull on the same team. We’d never be bored, that’s for sure.” Shego was already starting to feel a bit better, despite the ache in her side, though even that was beginning to fade. Thinking about pulling off heists along with the redhead had gotten her spirits up again, but it didn’t take a genius to see that the look in pumpkin’s eyes was anything but a slow burn toward more violence. Saying Kimmie was pissed was the understatement of the year.

“That bastard thinks he can get away with this. Thinks he can go digging around in my head, try to get me to do who knows what,” Kim stood back up with a purpose. Now, she would definitely be talking to Drakken, and just maybe the blow to the knee hadn’t been enough. He might need a stronger deterrent, for the future.

“Kimmie…Kim, where are you going,” the pale woman asked, even though she had a fairly good idea. Kim wouldn’t be referring to anyone else at this point. “Kim, wait…we’re not finished,” the thief jumped to her feet, reaching for the redhead’s shoulder. “Kim, we don’t even know exactly what it did to you.”

The redhead tensed at the touch, but didn’t stop. “I’ve heard all I need. Drakken can fill in the rest, and we’ll go from there,” Kim turned and caught Shego’s gaze out of the corner of her eye. “You wanted to work with me,” now she did come to a halt. “This is your chance. You can sit back and watch, or you can help.”

Shego started to open her mouth, trying to get her head around what Kimmie was implying, no, offering her. The redhead cut back in once she saw that the thief wasn’t going to be forthcoming right away.

“Take your pick. But, if you get in my way and try to stop me again…,” the teen let the threat fall where it may.


	5. Contact we Made

Kim Possible is property of Disney. Original characters are property of author.  
A Fan fiction by Six-string Samurai. Loudness Between Shadow & Light

The pale thief found herself staring at Kim’s back as the redhead moved away. “Kim, I-,” the words seemed to stick in her throat, and she wondered for the life of her just what she was hedging over. Wasn’t this what she wanted? Was it really? Kimmie all but dropped into her lap…no. That wasn’t quite the way things were headed right now. 

Shego could tell she wasn’t really being offered anything. She was being told, an order barely even sugar coated. And that, that made the whole thing jagged, made it bitter. The redhead was using Shego’s own words against her, and it put a knot in her stomach.

However, two things occurred to the raven haired woman at that moment, as her arm began to drop.

First, she realized that in taking what was presented to her, she would be buying herself more time; time that could be used to find out just what was going on in Kimmie’s noggin, and just what, if anything, needed to be done about it.

Secondly, there was nothing to say that Dr. D’s plan hadn’t actually worked. Which, if that was the case, Shego knew full well by now, how much easier it was to deal with other villains by going with the grain. Violence was only a way to keep things in check, not an end unto itself. As she’d already told Pumpkin, fighting was well and good, and could even liven things up, but Shego wasn’t a sadist. Fighting was more a testament to skill, hard work and pushing one’s body to the limit, of overcoming weakness.

That was what made all the scuffles and one-on-ones with the teen hero over the years worth it, because Kimmie had seemed to feel the same way, even if she would have never admitted it aloud. It had never been violence to Shego, which wasn’t to say there hadn’t been moments of anger, and frustration. Those things just came as part of the package deal between Heroes and Villains.

This Kim though, lacked that thing which put the pale woman in a mood to fight. Or if it was still there, it was hiding behind a mask of cold indifference. It didn’t even feel like Kimmie was mad at her, and it made a hell of a difference in Shego’s opinion.

“Hurry up. Before I change my mind,” the redhead called back, as she reached Drakken’s prone form.

Kim’s last statement was almost enough to set Shego off again, and she had to take another moment to calm herself back down. Force of habit had her mouth primed and ready to go off, just to try and shake this Kimmie up a bit. The rest of her, the part that told her to roll with this and see where it ended up, bludgeoned the jibe into silence. “Fine, count me in. If this comes back to bite me in the ass, Kimmie,” she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and then let it out. Mind made up, her eyes snapped open and she caught up to the redhead. Looking down at Dr. D, she ran a hand through her hair. “How exactly do you want to do this?”

The redhead had one hand on her hip and the other on her chin as she too seemed to be considering the comatose scientist. “I don’t think he’s going to be in any condition to be protesting,” she bent down and took hold of the lapels of Drakken’s lab coat. “Hm, let’s sit him up against the couch. If I leave him here, he’ll just be thinking about his leg and not focused on me, like I want.”

“I’m pretty sure that he’s going to be focusing on his busted knee no matter where we put him,” Shego shook her head, but ended up grabbing the doc’s belt to ease him up as Kim dragged him forward on his good leg. “I still can’t believe you kicked him like that,” she grunted as they set the blue man back down in a somewhat awkward sitting position, with his back propped up against the side of the couch Kim had been lying on.

Kim stepped back and picked up the glasses from the couch, affixing them to her belt. “What’s done is done, Shego. Time to move on already,” the redhead put her attention back on the matter at hand. “Speaking of which, got any smelling salts around here?” the teen was pulling off one of her gloves as she asked offhandedly.

“Uh, not that I recall. Used up what was in the spare first aid kit, maybe a month ago. We never got around to replacing it. I can go get some wa-,” Shego paused when she noticed Kim wasn’t listening and was slapping the glove rhythmically against her bare palm. “I’m gonna go get a couple glasses of cold water, I’ll be right back, don’t, uh, do anything till I get back, alright?” Shego waited until she saw the girl nod, though Kim never took her eyes off of Drakken. “I’ll be real quick, hang on.”

She took a couple of steps away and then started jogging, heading for the kitchen. Once she was halfway to the door, she picked up the pace thinking all the while that this definitely wasn’t one of her better impulses. Kimmie wasn’t just a little out of it right now. The look she’d seen behind the teen’s eyes was enough to tell Shego that much. Drakken was an idiot if he actually believed that his plan had a chance of working out the way he’d imagined it. And, she was a fool for ever going along with it.

Kim waited until the retreating footsteps vanished, before she squatted down, resting her arms across her knees, so she was face to face with the scientist. “I think this is a first for both of us. What do you think?” Nodding to herself, the redhead stood back up with a sigh. “Rise and shine,” she hauled her arm back and backhanded him hard across the cheek with the glove.

The blue man’s head rocked to the side from the blow and a low groan escaped his lips. The redhead watched, tapping her foot as he blinked and started to slowly come back around. One bleary eye struggled to focus on the teen, then wavered and drifted off toward the ceiling.

The redhead snapped her fingers twice to get his attention, and leaned in a bit. “Drakken, over here.”

At the sound of his name, the fog seemed to clear a little, and he swiveled back to look in the teen’s general direction. “Kim, Kim Possible. What’s going on? Why-,” he struggled to sit up more, but stopped moving completely when a horrible wrenching pain shot up his right leg. He let out a cry that turned into a whimper through clenched teeth. The feeling was terrible, but served to remind him of just what had happened. Clutching his leg, Drakken sucked back another groan; wild eyed he swung his head around, looking for his assistant. She was supposed to be protecting him from this kind of thing. “Sheg-,” there was a soft crack as something popped him sharply across the face.

“Eyes on me, Drakken. You and I need to have a few words,” Kim plucked the glasses from her belt, holding them up for a moment before replacing them. She was satisfied when Drakken, still clutching his leg, followed her hands with his head. “So, tell me. Exactly what does it do?”

The evil genius shifted his eyes away again, looking past the redhead. “Where’s Shego?” He was about to say more, but caught motion out of the corner of his vision and found the teen giving him a blank look, with her arm raised back, and a gray glove dangling in her grasp. He made the connection and shrunk back a bit. “W-wait! It’s a Virtual Reality simulator! Don’t hit me,” he let go of his leg and raised one hand to ward off the blow.

She lowered the glove. “Go on.”

There was still no sign of Shego, so he decided it was better to play along, that and his knee was killing him. Obviously his plans of manipulating Kim Possible had been a better success than he could have hoped for. But, like his assistant, this Kim seemed a little too prone toward hurting him, and he definitely didn’t like that. Maybe he should have set down some guidelines in the Shego Construct after all. He was a fan of delicious revenge and evil irony, just not when it was aimed at him.

“Drakken,” Kim warned in a tone that the scientist found all too familiar, just lacking Shego’s vitriol.

“Right, you see, I first found the plans in an online scientific journal. In it, the initial plans of the virtual environment were explained, as well as the results of the testing stages,” he paused to think. “Yes, Dr. Deane was very specific about the results, and just how successful the prototype was. Of course, the original idea behind the project was to aid in helping trauma patients deal with their issues, by allowing a psychologist direct access to the patient’s psyche. That’s what really caught my interest. That and the subsequent journal where she recorded the results of the first use of the device to aid in the rehabilitation of a psychopathic murderer,” Drakken nodded to himself, recalling just how excited he’d been upon running across that particular revelation.

“Suddenly, the whole concept took on a new meaning for me, and I decided that the applications of a direct shared neural connection were just about endless. Furthermore, with software that allowed for a somewhat controlled environment to be constructed, already installed in the device, the foundation for my new plan was set. But, I still lacked two vital components. The first, being the actual virtual reality generator, and the second, someone to manipulate it once everything was all set,” the scientist scratched his chin.

Kim decided to wait just a little longer for Drakken to get to the point, though he was wearing on her patience.

“It came to me while Shego was out paying a visit to the facility where the virtual reality simulation device was being used. Why not have her do it. I considered attempting it myself, but as you know, I’ve had to face the fact that I’m not exactly what you might call a people person, not for lack of trying mind you,” he frowned, thinking back on his college days. “Yes, not for lack of trying. Now, where was I? Ah, my idea to use Shego to control the virtual environment,” the blue scientist gave Kim a conspiratorial look, and grinned.

“Did you know that she’s not just a good bodyguard and excellent procurer of funds and equipment? When I first hired her, her resume was quite impressive. As it turns out, she earned a degree in, what was it…oh, child development; quite fitting, so I volunteered her for the job,” he sounded quite proud of himself. Then his expression soured just a tad. “But, she didn’t quite agree with me when I told her what her job was going to be,” he gave Kim a questioning look. “I thought she’d jump at the chance. She normally does with plans that involve you, Kim Possible. It must be that rival thing you two have.”

The redhead considered what Drakken was attempting to tell her. Still, none of it had much bearing on her situation. And nothing he’d told her was all that new, at least, not already covered by Shego’s brief explanation.

Luckily for the blue scientist, Shego ran back into the room at that moment, interrupting just as Kim began to get further irritated.

“Kim here’s the, oh,” the thief skidded to a halt, holding two glasses of cold tap water. “Nevermind, looks like Dr. D’s up already.” She gave him a once over, and aside from a dark welt on one side of his face, he didn’t appear the worse for wear. Well, and the busted knee, but that was a given. “Guess the party started without me.”

Drakken’s eyes lit up hopefully at the dark haired woman’s appearance. “Shego, do something about this! How could you just leave me?”

Shego appeared a bit uncomfortable for a moment, and then shook it off. “Hey, this was your plan, Dr. D. I’m trying to follow along with it. You were the one that said we should work with Kimmie.” She set the water down on a nearby table. “This is just how it turned out.”

“But, Shego, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Drakken!” Kim finally spoke, and the other two went silent for a moment. “Stop whining and focus. I need to know what this thing did to me. I don’t care how it did it right now. I want to know what it did.”

The blue man appeared to think about it before deciding to answer. He was still confused as to why Shego wasn’t coming to his aid, but if she wasn’t going to help him, he wanted to remain in one piece for as long as he could. Answering Kim Possible’s questions seemed the best way to go about that until he could figure out a way to work things to his advantage, or get away with his hide mostly intact. Still, the pain in his leg made it hard to think properly. The only bit of gratification he could muster was the fact that someone would finally listen to everything he had to say. “Yes, yes. Of course. That’s the best part,” He gave another tiny grin.

“Once Shego brought me the unit you’re wearing on your belt there, I was able to start analyzing the software first hand. While I found the coding to be quite complex, it was also quite straightforward, and only a small matter for me to whip up an extra application that would allow a simulated entity to flawlessly interface with the native environment, acting as a surrogate ‘councilor,’ or ‘psychiatrist,’ take your pick,” he shrugged.

As it turned out, when Shego first returned and I explained to her the next step of the plan, she rather forcibly declined, as I told you. This is the reason why I needed to create a way for my Shego stand-in to be able to access the host environment,” he paused as Kim held up her hand for him to stop.

“Wait, back up. What do you mean ‘Shego stand-in’? Who’d you find to do that,” Kim folded her arms doubtfully.

“Ah, well when Shego told me she wouldn’t do it, I had already decided that using her would be the best chance for the plan to work successfully. I didn’t have a substitute in mind, other than myself, which we already went over,” he made a wry face. “Thinking about Shego though, gave me another idea. I could use another plan I’d put aside last year, to create a digital construct of my assistant, one that would be able to act in her stead, in every capacity.”

“You cloned Shego,” Kim deadpanned.

“That’s what I said,” the woman under discussion point out.

“And I told you, the Shego Construct isn’t a clone. Not biologically at any rate,” the blue man sounded vaguely hurt. “We’re like family, you and I, an Evil one but,” he stopped, wilting under twin glares. “the plan, right…,” he continued lamely.

“I was able to get the construct into a workable state; originally, she was balking at the task she’d been given, much like the actual Shego. I fixed that, and she agreed to carry out the plan to the best of her ability. Then, everything was ready for the first real stage of my plan. All it needed, was you, Kim Possible,” he looked up at the red head, “and that part was the easiest of all, I must admit,” he gave her a self-satisfied smile. “Right, Shego?”

Shego couldn’t decide whether she’d been satisfied, or let down, at just how easy it had been to snare the redhead, and not for the first time either. “Yeah. Sorry Kimmie, you are pretty one-track with the whole hero thing, you gotta admit. Dr. D just powered up the entire lair and your dial-a-nerd sent you running right into our lap.”

“Once you showed up, Shego snuck up and knocked you out, and I was able to begin phase two of the plan.”

Kim took a moment to try and recall what had happened, but she was still drawing a blank on what was apparently the last few hours. She remembered talking to Wade, and letting her parents know she was taking the Sloth out on a mission, but that’s where things started to get fuzzy. It all sounded pretty straightforward, and she could readily imagine the way events had likely panned out. Though, she had the distinct impression that there was something important she was forgetting. It was a similar feeling to a bad case of déjà vu. Kim didn’t like it, not one bit.

“What happened after that,” Kim asked, watching as Drakken and Shego shared a look.

Drakken spoke up, “While you were sleeping, I took the opportunity to connect you to the device and from there you presumably met with the Shego Construct.”

“What do you mean, presumably? So far, I’m not liking this plan of yours; it sounds about as half-assed as the rest of the crap you’ve pulled in the past.” The redhead was trying to work around the blank spot in her head, and failing was only adding to the irritability that was swiftly growing.

“Yes, I didn’t realize until too late that there was no way to monitor what was going on in the virtual environment from the outside. A flaw that came with the original device, and not accounted for in the journal’s I read,” the scientist sounded almost contrite. “It was actually quite nerve-wracking, I’ll have you know. I had to sit around and wait, doing nothing while the Shego Construct went about doing her job convincing you to turn your back on the hero business. Not very pleasant to fly blind like that, not at all,” he finished.

Shego went wide eyed at her boss’s idiotic statement, and quickly reached out to put a hand on Kim’s arm to perhaps try and hold her back, the thief wasn’t too sure herself at that moment.

If the pale green woman’s touch registered, Kim didn’t give any outward sign. However, she did make exception to the flapping lips of the blue megalomaniac, and her foot lashed out and caught Drakken in the chest, knocking him over on his side. “You…you couldn’t even see what she was doing in my head, and it’s just a design flaw to you,” Kim’s tone was dry, and her voice barely above a whisper.

Drakken groaned, trying to decide if it hurt less to remain on his side, or to try and sit back up. “A little oversight, I think it worked out in the end,” grabbing his injured leg, well above the swollen knee, he grit his teeth and tried to sit. “You’ve certainly exceeded my expectations in your Evil, Kim Possible,” his eyes shone with satisfaction, if not marred by the tears of pain that were beginning to well up. “Just think of all that we can accomplish, the three of us together! It all seems to have worked out in the end, not exactly like I had in mind, but it could have been worse, I suppose.” Drakken stared down at his leg, and his vision started to go wobbly with the fresh pain. But, he was rather pleased with the fact that neither Kim Possible, nor Shego had really interrupted his speech for once.

“Let me get this straight. You figured that getting me to ‘go Evil,’ as you put it, was a perfect way to ensure that you would be successful in taking over the world. Because, as far as I can tell, aside from the occasional appearance by Global Justice, I was the only one to continually stop you from doing so, on pretty much every occasion. And, if I was on the other side of the equation, there would be no one to stop you,” Kim put a hand to her head.

“Yes, it’s a flawless idea, if I do say so myself,” Drakken grinned, not bothering to right himself to avoid aggravating his ruined knee.

“And you thought that putting Shego, or whoever, in my head would get the job done.”

Again, the scientist nodded.

“And, you didn’t bother to consider what happened last time, when Ron was put into a similar situation, did you?”

Drakken came up short, not sure as to where the teen was taking this, “Ron? Hm, remind me who that is again?” 

“Ron Stoppable, as in Kimmie’s sidekick, you know…the blond boy that just recently trashed another of your inventions. The kid with the bald pocket pal,” Shego supplied in a monotone that suggested the explanation was more a force of habit by now.

“Ah, yes…,” Drakken’s eyes narrowed, “that Ron.”

Shego shook her head. “Right, like we know another Ron.”

“Yes, well, I can’t be bothered to remember every little detail you know. But, come to think of it, he was a rather impressive villain. Of course, it was my Evil he was using. I’d like to think that had more to do with it than anything else,” Drakken chuckled until a twinge shot though his leg.

“That’s not the point. The point is that he was a better villain than either you or the rest of the usual crowd. If he is normally good enough to stop you, what reason would he have to join you, rather than be the best at what he does? And that’s just Ron I’m talking about. So, what reason would I have, to help you take over the world? That’s another important part you forgot to take into account, Drakken. That’s why your plans fail, because you don’t consider the whole picture,” Kim folded her arms, staring down at the scientist.

“One more thing, before I’m done with you. Where did this digital Shego go when the device turned off? The last thing I want to deal with is her running around loose in my head,” Kim gestured toward the pale thief.

“Hey, that isn’t exactly on the top of my list, either, Princess,” Shego snipped, letting go of Kim’s arm.

“Hmm, that’s a good question.”

Both women stared down at the fallen scientist. “Excuse me,” Kim regained her voice first, not quite sure she wanted to understand what he was referring to.

“I said that was an excellent question. I’m not really sure. My guess is back into the device, since that makes the most sense. The construct is a digital entity after all, so I think that she would have trouble maintaining cohesion outside an electronic environment. The human mind is hardly suited to hosting such,” he started ranting only to stumble on his own words. “Well, the brain is run by electrical impulses after all, so maybe that isn’t such a good comparison. If the construct didn’t make it back through the neural interface connection back into storage space in the unit, there are several possibilities as to what might have happened the moment the device shut down.”

“If the construct didn’t get shunt out, and survived the collapse of the host environment, there is a chance that it is still in some part of your brain. I don’t know of a reliable way to check for sure. It wasn’t important at the time, so I didn’t bother worrying about it,” seeing the look Kim was giving him, and now able to recognize it for the precursor it was, he hastily added, “But, there’s no reason I can’t find out! All we have to do is synchronize the unit to the computer and I’ll extract the construct, if it’s back in the device. If not, then we’ll have half of the problem solved already.”

Kim plucked the glasses from her belt, “Do it,” she handed the device to the scientist, “and the Shego construct better be back in this thing. Hope with all your tiny little heart, Drakken.”

* * *

It took some doing, but between the two women, they were able to get Drakken situated at his desk without causing too much discomfort to his injury.

“Show me,” the redhead instructed, pointing to the monitor.

Drakken took the device and dug around the cluttered desk for a cable to connect it to the computer. “It’s around here somewhere.” A moment later his black glove closed around the thin end of an eSATA cord. “Ah, see, I knew it,” without further ado, he plugged in the unit.

There was a tiny hum, and the twin LEDs on the side of the glasses flickered blue. On the monitor, a program dialogue popped up with status information, stating that the unit was now connected to the network, and that the environment was starting to run.

Kim watched the screen, trying to make sense of the jumbled data streaming across the mid-sized frame. “Well?”  
“I think it’s still booting up, Pumpkin,” Shego kept one eye on the screen, and one on the tightly wound teen.

“Yes, but it’s almost finished booting up the simulation. Any minute now, and I can run a search algorithm for our wayward Shego,” Drakken watched with baited breath as the dialogue box on the screen pinged to indicate it was finished processing, and a second box opened up with a command prompt. Tapping away at a feverish pace, the blue scientist inputted a string of code and hit the enter button. “That will start the search. And it should be done, right about,” he paused for dramatic flair, and not five seconds later there was another ping, “Now.”

“So, is Shego in there, or not,” the redhead put a hand on the back of Drakken’s seat, leaning over his shoulder to get a better view of the screen.

“Can we, you know, call her something else? And the first person that suggests Shego Two, or anything stupid like that, is just asking for a dose of plasma, right up the ass,” the green tinged woman leaned her elbow against the table.

Kim actually took her eyes off the screen to level a stare at the thief, “Can’t one of you just go by your regular name?”

“My _regular_ name, Kimmie,” Shego quirked a brow. “Like the one everyone calls me?”

“You know what I meant…the one you were born with. I really doubt your parents actually named your brothers, Mego, Hego, and both twins, Wego,” the redhead snorted in faint amusement. “At least, I hope they didn’t.”

“And what if they did? What kind of names are Possible, and Stoppable,” Shego smirked when Kim didn‘t reply, “See, maybe my family isn’t the only one with bad naming sense.”

The redhead shrugged, “Fine, keep your secret, it was just a suggestion,” she turned back to Drakken, “What’s the verdict?”

Drakken looked back and forth between the two women, “I know what Shego’s real na-,” he snapped his jaw shut when a telltale thrum of power flickered into being.

“Don’t get all sidetracked, Dr. D,” Shego wasn’t smiling anymore, and gave her boss a hard stare that promised a lot of bed rest in Drakken’s immediate future if he didn’t zip his lip.

“Don’t be like that, Shego, it hurts me when you--,” Drakken watched as the flame enlarged considerably, “On second thought, er, what was I saying?”

Kim drummed her fingers on the chair’s headrest. “Is she in the device, or not.”

“Oh, that was it,” Drakken swiveled the chair, or tried to, having to turn sideways to look up at the redhead. “Are you going to hit me if I tell you no,” he asked, dreading the response.

“That depends,” the teen hero ground out, “on how you’re going to get her out of my head, without messing anything else up.”

“Well,” the scientist hedged, and saw that Kim wasn’t lightening up any. “There really is only the one way.”

“And, that would be,” Kim gripped the chair.

“The same way she got in,” Drakken shut down the computer interface, and unplugged the virtual environment device. “You put this back on and we get her out, probably.”

“Probably isn’t good enough. I want one hundred percent. I want her gone,” Kim took the glasses that Drakken was proffering. “And we’re not doing it here, either. This thing knocks you out, right,” she gave Shego a look, and then Drakken. “That’s not gonna happen with no one here to watch my back.”

“I’ll watch your back, Kimmie,” the raven haired woman found herself grinning. “This was a shitty plan in the first place. There’s only room enough for one of me anyway.”

“Isn’t it a little late for second thoughts? Then again, it leaves room to work with,” the teen shook her head. “Thanks, but no. I’ll have someone take care of things.” She focused back on the scientist. “You’ll have to run Wade through what to do. When I’m satisfied that he gets the picture, I’ll decide what to do with you. Sound good? Thought so,” she cut off before Drakken could get a word in edgewise, dialing up the young hacker on her Kimmunicator.

On the teen hero’s wrist, the blue wristwatch shaped device blinked to life. The screen on the face of the Kimmunicator blinked and was replaced by the familiar chubby face of Kim’s longtime technical expert, Wade Load.

As usual, the young man was wide awake and ready to go, “Kim, everything all finished up with Drakken? I haven’t seen any action from G.J.,” his eyes flicked away as he turned his attention briefly to somewhere else on his computer screen. “and, the lair is still running full power. What’s up?”

“There’s no real best place to start, but I’m patching you through to Drakken. There’s a bit of a sitch that I need you to take care of for me,” the teen explained, while unfastening the monitor from her wrist. She handed it to the blue scientist, who was staring at her with a look of apprehension. “Wade, he’s going to give you the details.” She fixed Drakken with a hard stare. “Do this right, and hope we can reverse this. Otherwise, you’ll wish you were getting picked up by Global Justice. I promise.”

“Kim, wait, what’s going on? Hey, oh…D-drakken,” the young black teen’s voice cracked over the tiny speakers as the scientist brought the display screen up to his face, regarding it with a mixture of distain and admiration.

Both the device and its creator, had caused him a lot of stress over the past few years. Most notably, with everything involving its owner, the recently Evil-ized Kim Possible. “So, you’re the brains behind Miss not-so-goody Possible? The one that keeps spoiling my lairs, and the one that helped realize my greatest plan. What‘s your name again,” Drakken held up a finger when the round face on the other side of the screen appeared to want to answer. “Wait, don’t remind me, I think I’ve got it this time,” the scientist smiled a self-satisfied grin, “Yes, she calls you, Wide. I must say, it certainly fits.”

“It’s Wade,” the heavyset boy replied tersely, as offense swiftly outpaced the startled nervousness that he’d been feeling upon suddenly being passed off by Kim, to come face to face with a notorious villain. “Kim just said it. And I always thought Ron was exaggerating before,” Wade mumbled to himself, frowning briefly before going into work mode. “I don’t know what’s going on over there, but Kim wouldn’t do this for no reason.”

Drakken brought the Kimmunicator closer to his face. “Kim Possible isn’t in a good mood at the moment. My plan, its had a rather large side-effect, one that I didn’t take into consideration. You see, right now, she has a digital construct of my assistant, I believe you know Shego,” the scientist gestured around off-screen to where the pale thief was standing. “running around in her mind. I suppose saying that Miss Possible is upset would be a rather large understatement,” the scientist fought the urge to adjust himself in the chair, as even small movements sent ripples of pain through his hyper-extended knee.

On the other end of the line, Wade thought he understood some of what the blue villain was explaining. He wondered how much of the plan involved getting someone stuck in Kim’s head, or if that was part of the side-effects. “And, by stuck, we need to get whatever you put in her head back out,” he hazarded.

“Yes, she’s quite insistent about that,” Drakken nodded, shooting a glance at the redhead. “Quite,” he affirmed after shying away from Kim’s flat gaze.

“You said it’s a digital version of Shego,” the young boy’s voice filtered through the speakers. “Can’t you reverse the process you used to upload it to Kim?” At this point, he was merely conjecturing, since he really hadn’t had much experiences dealing with mergers of artificial and natural intelligences. That got him thinking on a tangent. Did this even qualify as an artificial intelligence? “Wait, just how accurate of a copy of Shego did you create,” he scratched his chin with one hand and turned his attention back to the crux of the matter as he waited for the scientist to answer.

“I’d like to think she’s nearly identical in every feasible way. Nearly, save for a few, ahem, adjustments,” the scientist supplied.

Wade thought about that for a moment, inadvertently getting a different image from what he hoped the villain was implying. “What sort of alterations are we talking about here?” From his point of view, the blue face staring at him from his monitor began to appear slightly apprehensive.

“Well, there are a lot of things I trust Shego to do. But, I’ve worked with her for several years now, and I’ve had to accept that she does have a few issues, as I’m sure we all do. I‘ve done my best to treat her like family, but maybe that has been part of the problem. For this plan, I realized that I needed a Shego that wasn‘t hampered by ghosts from her time in Go City,” Drakken paused, realizing again that he had his back to his assistant, and as such, couldn’t see her. But, an audible thwump of the green plasma variety cued him in that she could see and hear him very well. This was the part he knew had thrown the proverbial wrench in his plan, and it would more than likely come back to haunt him for a long time to come. He swallowed.

Kim watched with no little interest as Drew Lipksy began digging himself a little deeper as he went on. Like Drakken, the redhead was fully cognizant of the current mood level of the room, centering mainly on the pale woman with glowing green hands. The part of the table that Shego had been leaning against, was already warping visibly from the heat she was pumping out. Apparently, the thief’s distaste for clones ran a close second to whatever it was that her boss had done to alter said clone. The hero wondered idly if the twitch developing under Shego’s left eye should bother her. Somehow it didn’t. Neither did she feel any inclination to put a halt to any impending violence. Everything would work itself out. Kim would see to it, should it came down to that.

With three pairs of eyes on him, Drakken flinched, but drove on, “to that end, I set about plugging in minor alterations to the coding of the Construct, enabling her to act free of constraint. She would be able to work without holding herself back,” he shrugged, almost apologetically, “Maybe, that was a bit of a mistake.”

Despite being naturally gifted, Wade was still a young man, and as such, had only limited experience in personal relationships to draw on, but even still, he found himself wondering what exactly went on in a villain like Drakken’s head. But then again, the man was trying to take over the world. Why should messing with his own associates be any surprise. Still. “Ah, so you effectively had to turn off this copy of Shego’s inhibitions, just to get her to do the job you wanted done?”

“Yes, exactly,” Drakken forgot himself once more, pleased that someone understood what he’d been aiming for.

“And, you don’t see anything even a little wrong with that,” Wade finished, still a bit dumbfounded at the density of this man’s self-importance. Then again, the same man had put mind-controlling chips on both Kim, and Shego, in the past. This wasn’t much different, when viewed in that light. 

“If by that, you mean that it didn’t quite work out as I’d envisioned, then yes, I must have botched a line of code somewhere,” the blue scientist remarked with a note of dissatisfaction.

Wade could see that this was going nowhere fast, and tried to steer the conversation back to something he could work with, though he did see that time was certainly a factor now. They needed to get the rogue entity out of Kim’s head, before something worse happened. All he could tell so far, was that his friend was a touch extra moody at the moment. Enough that it had Drakken on edge, and maybe the empowered thief too. “So, you can’t reverse the process,” the teen hacker tried once more to clarify.

“Apparently, Kim doesn’t think too highly of that method. I told her it was the best and most assured way of extracting the construct without fuss,” Drakken told the younger technophile. “She was rather insistent that you be the one to do the deed, as it were.”

“I’m pretty sure she just doesn’t trust either of you,” Wade supplied. “So, how did you plan to undo whatever you did?”

“The same way I put the Shego Construct in of course, through a back door in the Virtual Environment Generator Interface. It’s a device that I modified in order to,” a sharp cough from Kim over Drakken’s shoulder put a stop to his exposition. “Yes, anyway. We only have to reverse the process, and the Construct should leave back through the device of her own accord,” he nodded, pleased with the simplicity of the plan.

“That sounds easy enough. I take it there is something else to it that you’re leaving out, or Kim wouldn’t be opposed to getting it over and done with,” a dry tone crept into the voice on the other side of the screen in Drakken’s hands.

“Well, I suppose the whole matter of being rendered unconscious during the process has something to do with it,” the blue man replied matter-of-factly.

“Drakken, just tell Wade what he needs to know to operate the damn thing,” the redhead put a hand on the scientists shoulder, squeezing with no small amount of pressure. “Time is not on your side, you can be sure of that,” her tone left no room for argument or further hedging.

Taking the not so subtle hint, the scientist swallowed, getting back on track. “The process itself is quite straightforward. You take the device, hook it up to a processing unit, or mainframe, what have you. It has its own onboard OS, and will run an interface program independent of the computer it is connected to. However, you can alter the parameters of the Environment simulation to include duration time and other similar factors. I would personally reconfigure the shutdown triggers and either set a time limit or other easily monitored conditions to safely disengage the unit from the host.” 

“Are you following this, Wade,” Kim peered over the shoulder of Drakken’s lab coat, down at the screen of her Kimmunicator to see Wade mulling over the concept that the blue man had outlined.

“Yep, I’d need to get a look at exactly what sort of parameters he’s talking about, and without this, uh, VEGI unit in my hands, that’s difficult to do, but not out of the question. I can get started on it right away, and if you can bring me the actual unit…,” Wade smiled, “we’ll get this all sorted out tonight. At least, if it works out the way Drakken said. I don‘t know about this whole, Shego in your head, thing, but I need that device first.” 

“Right,” Kim looked down at the scientist. “Well, you heard him. I’ll be taking this,” she reached over for the glasses that were resting on the table in front of Drakken.

“Wait, you can’t just take that, we--,” the whiny protest was cut off by the waggle of a gloved finger.

“You aren’t in any position to tell me otherwise, not now and not in the near future either,” a few loose strands of hair fell down across the teen’s eyes, and she stayed her hand inches from the device. “But, you’re right, I can’t just take it like this, can I.”

“What do you mean,” the scientist sat up a little straighter.

“Turn it off, shut it down first. Whatever needs to be done to make sure it doesn’t get damaged when you unplug it from the computer,” Kim made her words very clear, so that there would be no doubt in the villain’s mind as to what she wanted done. This wasn’t something that she was willing to risk messing up, not with something running loose, doing who knows what, in her skull.


	6. My Devil Makes me Dream

Kim Possible is property of Disney. Original characters are property of author.  
A Fan fiction by Six-string Samurai. Loudness Between Shadow & Light

The lights of Drakken’s lair eventually disappeared from the Sloth’s rear view. It did little to stem the tide that was coiling tighter and tighter, constricting Kim’s chest. A jumble of thoughts were surfacing, bit by bit, making it hard to concentrate on the dark country road.

She turned on the radio, anything to focus on. Something to force her concentration on the road, and keep her mind off of the violated feeling that was picking at the edge of her thoughts. It was easier to think of the goal ahead, rather than Drakken and Shego. Though the thief had been fixing her boss with a nasty glare as the redhead took her leave of the two. There was a measure of gratification, knowing that the blue villain was in capable hands.

But, even that brought a wash of unaccustomed anger, something raw that welled up in her hands, aching to be vented. The leather of her gloves creaked as she gripped the wheel, one hand threatening to ball into a useless fist. _Shego_ , the name splashed in the back of Kim’s head, spat out as if it were a bad taste. _She doesn’t even know what to do with herself. Trapped in her own little game. Lost._

Kim furrowed her brow, blinking against the brightness of the center line the car was drifting toward. What game? Shego might be a thief and in the employ of a dangerously idiotic super villain, but Kim was pretty sure the pale woman had her head on straight, as much as could be, given the circumstances. Of course, there was the whole Team Go thing, that Kim had never really looked into, past what she’d been told by Hego. It hadn’t been a lengthy conversation at that.

_Overzealous dolt. I don’t know why he even still bothers._

The redhead nearly slammed her foot on the brakes, the moment she realized the voice in her head wasn’t her own. She’d considered the chance that something like this could happen, though she still found it disconcerting, but not a real problem, since it had thirty minute shelf-life, at most. Just until she got to Wade’s house.

_It’s not a bad place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live here. That said, I certainly don’t mind the view._

You’re still…around then, Kim thought, pushing the Sloth around a few tight corners, before the road straightened out toward the main drag that led toward Upperton.

_Looks that way, Pumpkin. Hurt like a bitch when that stupid device shut off, but no real harm done. So, I take it we’re off to see your Nerdling?_

“Wade,” Kim corrected out of habit.

_Yeah, like I said. And, after that?_

“What do you mean, after that,” the driver asked, speaking aloud now that she’d started. “You’ll be out, and I be back to normal. That’s all there is to it.”

_Oh? Just how do you plan on doing that? Who’s going to put Kimmie back in the box? I didn’t know you came with a reset button._

“Reset button? What are you talking about? Nothing’s wrong. Drakken said you did something, but I don’t feel any different.”

_You mean other than the fact that you’re talking to yourself? That’s rich, Pumpkin, and a little off the mark. You’ve been set free, you just haven’t realized it yet. But, you will. If not, I’m sure someone will point it out for you. It’ll be hard not to._

“Free? Free how? Drakken was making more sense, and he was blubbering.”

_Please, now you’re comparing me to him? That’s hitting low, Kimmie. I thought we had a better understanding between us._

Ahead, the lights on the outskirts of Upperton cut the night as the Sloth barreled down the road. Kim pressed on the accelerator, edging the needle on the speedometer just past fifty. The quicker she got to Wade’s, the sooner she could get home, crawl in bed and put this day behind her. “I guess you thought wrong, Shego.”

_Let’s get one thing straight. Don’t confuse me with that lazy bitch, still wrapped up in her little security blanket. I can own up to what’s mine. I guess the blue dolt can get something right once in a while._

“Okay…what am I supposed to call you then,” Kim frowned, finding that even a short conversation was doing a number right behind her eyes.

_You could use my name, for starters._

“She-- um, I don’t know what it is,” Kim massaged the bridge of her nose with one hand, trying to keep most of her attention on the road. “I never got around to finding out, and you…well, Shego, sure never let it slip.”

_Oh, You weren't joking back there? You mean all this time and you never looked it up? A perfectly good resource in your pocket, and never bothered to get the dirt on us? That’s kind of insulting, Kimmie. Hell, just do an internet search, and there’s plenty of info. But, you didn’t even do that, did you?_

“It wasn’t exactly on the top of my list. I’ve been pretty busy with saving the world, and getting through school. There’s a lot on my plate, if you hadn’t noticed.”

_Busy? It’s not like you had to drive to Go City and look up old newspaper articles. It’s going to be pretty hard to get ahead if a bit of legwork scares you off. I’m just saying, is all._

“Ugh, fine, fine. Tell me already,” Kim adjusted the rear view and stared hard at her reflection for a moment.

_Ooh, that’s nice. Working on an Evil Glare already, huh. The tic’s a bit much though._

“Sheg--”

_Ah, watch where you’re slinging the S-word…unless you want me poking around up here. Pointy claws, remember?_

As if Kim’s guest was more show than tell, her headache suddenly intensified, the dull throb localizing directly behind her right eye in a sharp pain. It was bad enough that she swerved, letting go of the wheel with one hand to cradle the side of her head. “Just tell me your damn name!”

The ache began to dwindle to a more bearable level.

_Sam. Now, think you can get there without killing us both? Want me to drive? This thing’s ugly, but it’s just as tricked out as one of Motor Ed’s rides. I bet it can really move._

“Is that short for something,” the redhead asked, watching as she blew past the city limit sign. Several seconds of silence passed, leaving Kim to wonder if the voice in her head had heard the question.

_I don’t call you Kimberly, do I? Sam’s what works for me._

“You don’t exactly call me Kim, either.”

_Nope. I don't._

There might have been a smile behind it, but it was too hard to put a face to the words, at least one that wasn’t Shego’s.

_Try calling me Sammie, and find out what happens._

“I think I can control myself, thanks,” Kim said dryly.

_Good, now floor it. There’s not a whole lot to do in here, FYI._

“Right, just keep your hands to yourself. We’ll be there in,” the teen stared at the clock on the dash, “under ten minutes.” The Sloth barreled along the main drag for a bit before pulling off onto a side street towards the residences.

_Super, I can barely contain my excitement. I’ve always wanted to meet the Nerdlinger face to face. Though this isn’t quite what I had in mind._

* * *

“This is amazing. Where did Drakken pick this up?” Team Possible’s resident techno-geek had hooked up the glasses to a spare PC the minute Kim had shown up. At the moment, he was checking the coding through the back end of the device’s on-board operating system, just to see what he was dealing with. “Whoever designed this must had a ton of funding,” Wade’s fingers itched to take a look under the hood, so to speak, but Kim had been very insistent that he get it up and running.

“Shego nabbed it from some institute in California. I don’t remember if they mentioned a name. I had other things on my mind at the time,” the redhead stared at the gibberish flashing across the screen, not really bothering to try and make heads or tails of it. The programming didn’t concern her. All that mattered at this point was making sure her unwelcome guest was evicted.

_He’s a little roly-poly, isn’t he. Young, too._

“That doesn’t have to do with anything, not when the job gets done,” Kim answered without apparent concern.

_I’m just saying, is all. I thought he’d be taller._

“Right, whatever. Keep it down so we can get this done and over with.”

_It’s not like I’m the one bothering him. Nerdlinger can’t hear me, remember. You’re the one talking to yourself out loud._

“So ah, I’m guessing I’m not going to find anything inside this device, Kim,” Wade swiveled in his chair to look up at his friend with a critical eye.

The teen hero frowned, and shook her head once. “She’s still up here,” she tapped the side of her head with a gloved finger. “and doesn’t know when to zip it. I need you to get her out and back into that device, like…yesterday.”

"Right. Well, the coding is pretty complex, but I’m about to run the OS interface and take a look at how it’s set up. I’m hoping it’ll be as easy as transferring files from drive to drive. But, that already brings up a ton of issues,” he trailed off, not quite comfortable with the stare Kim was directing his way. He guessed she was in one of her, moods. It was probably the stress of having the construct in her head, which would be unnerving enough to deal with for anybody, he decided. “But, we’ll know in a minute or two.”

That said, Wade turned his full attention back to the monitor, hands fairly flying across the keyboard as he fired up the device’s system. On the screen, a blue GUI flickered up. “Hmm,” he muttered.

“What’s ’hmm’,” Kim put a hand on the desk, leaning over to peer at the screen.

“Well, take a look,” he gestured to the display.

_That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen._

The redhead did her best to ignore the sarcasm dripping inside her head, even if it was justified in this case. There was a sole icon in the bottom left corner of the screen, floating just above a blue gradient background bearing a simple thin ring that might be a logo, one that she didn’t recognize. “Not much to look at, is it?”

“Not really, but then again, it’s only meant to run a single program as far as I can tell. Plain, but functional,” he moved the cursor over the icon and clicked on it.

Immediately, the background shifted, the ring in the back expanding outward, until it touched all corners of the screen where it began to separate into a dozen more icons. “Oh, okay…that makes more sense,” he glanced over the icons, most of which appeared to be various commands. “The program is already up and running. Once I figure out what’s what, we can get started.”

“Sounds like a plan, so let’s get this over with.”

_Ooh, want to have a little fun before my time in here is up? How about it, Kimmie?_

“Let’s not, and leave it at that. You want out of there just as bad as I want you gone,” Kim scowled, directing a mental scowl at her unwanted guest.

_Okay, okay, fine. But, I’m not all that excited about getting sucked back into that thing either. I think there’s got to be a better option here. In fact, there’s a ton of options all over this city._

“I don’t follow. I thought this was the only way to get you out.”

_Oh, it is. I’m sure of that. But, who says I have to stay in there? It’s worse than a prison, let me tell you. There’s nothing to do, and there damn sure isn’t three squares a day. I’m just saying, I’m sure there’s gotta be somewhere better, with a little more room to stretch. I can think of quite a few, and that’s just off the top of my head._

It didn’t take more than a moment for the redhead to catch on, “No, that’s out of the question.”

_Oh, come on. It would work out great. Don’t kid yourself, pumpkin. I’m not just some voice in your head. I can do a hell of a lot more than give you a little poke behind the eyes, trust me. I’m in the co-pilot seat right now, but the big girl chair is parked right next to me. I can take you for the ride of your life._

“Don’t even,” the teen’s words were cut short as her fingers on the desk started drumming idly of their own accord. “I swear, if you don’t stop, I’ll,” narrowing her eyes, she faltered as the implications began to sink in.

_You’ll what? I’d rather this not get ugly. It’s not like I’m asking you for something so bad. Think about it, you and I both have plenty of people who’d like to see us dead. Just think of this as the perfect opportunity to shrink that number by one. In fact, I’ll do you better and take care of a certain green thorn in my side, once I’m out and about. Maybe the blue dolt while I’m at it. You couldn’t ask for a better deal, and you know I’m right. Help me do this, and I’ll show you just what’s in it for you. Quid pro quo and all that jazz._

* * *

“Just for the record, I’m not okay with this.” Wade had been listening on and off to his friend’s one-sided conversations for the last hour. None of it sounded very good, from what he could tell. The fact that Kim, herself, seemed ill at ease compounded his doubts as to the wisdom of the whole plan. It was one thing to separate his friend from the ghost in her head, in of itself still pure conjecture at this point. To turn right around and inflict that same condition on someone else, he couldn’t justify it, morally or otherwise.

Unfortunately, they’d both seen firsthand just how little choice they might have in the matter. More to the point, that Kim had no control over her own actions, should push come to shove. It was a frightening concept for the young hacker, who could only imagine what the situation felt like to the redhead. If she was troubled, it didn’t show past the brusque tone in her voice.

“I get that, Wade. I don’t like it anymore than you do, trust me. I don’t have a whole lot of wiggle room right now, and I like that even less. Besides, this falls back on Drakken and Shego. They’re the ones that started this whole mess. If we have to do this, I don’t see why they can’t help clean it up.” the redhead turned from Wade to the screen.

_What do you have in mind, Kimmie? If you think I’m getting crammed into one of those two, maybe I poked you a little harder than I thought._

“Nice guess, but not quite what I had in mind,” Kim spoke under her breath. She was getting tired of having to say everything aloud. It just seemed, wrong somehow, that she couldn’t just think what she wanted to say. The voice was in her head, after all.

_Well, don’t leave me hanging. You’re killing me with the suspense, kiddo._

Kim considered not answering, at least for a bit. The problem with that was she had no way of gauging Sheg-, no, Sam’s reaction. She mentally corrected herself, riling up the beast with claws in her noggin wasn’t high on her list of fun things to do right now. “It’s simple, Drakken already has the perfect place to put you, a body you don’t even have to deal with sharing. Well, the plans for one anyway. I doubt it would take long to build in any case.” The redhead took the silence to mean that her unwelcome guest was doing some thinking of her own.

_A body little boy blue already has, huh. I seriously hope you’re not referring to those idiot triplets. You already threw a wrench into that plan a long time ago. But, now that you mention it, I think he was tinkering around with ‘upgrades’ a year or so back. He said blonde wasn’t his color, or something dumb like that. If he got around to making a new model, it’s news to me. Then again, his particular brand of idiotic genius knows no bounds. He just might have whipped up a batch as a backup plan._

“So, what’s the verdict? I think it would do the trick.”

_You do realize where he got the idea for those Bebe’s right?_

“What does that have to do with anything?” Kim hadn’t ever bothered to think about it one way or the other. Debating over Drakken’s inspiration was pointless as far as she was concerned. There were a lot of things she had to do during the day, and less hours than she sometimes would like.

_In a word, Femmebots. While I’m not the least bit shy about my body--_

“That’s an understatement,” Kim cut in.

_I put in a lot of work, I’ll have you know. Anyway, like I was about to say, I may look pretty damn good, but I’m not some brainless, eye-candy, sex toy._

Kim blanched as the implication set in, “Wait, what? Ew, that’s--”

_Yeah, you don’t know the half of it. I happen to glance at the first few rough blueprints. I had to convince Drakken to nix some of the extra features, if he knew what was good for his health. More to the point, I bet he still has the originals, squirreled away somewhere so I wouldn’t turn them to ash._

“Why would that matter if you’re so dead set against a Bebe body?”

_Because, Kimmie…if getting a sleek Terminator body is an option, I making damn sure I’m in working order. Don’t think I’m accepting anything less here. I want all the bells and whistles, or we can still go with door number two. I can deal with wearing a Shego suit, it looks better on me anyway._

For some reason, that last comment disturbed Kim, though she couldn’t put her finger on quite why.


End file.
